Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T00:06:54.819Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Reassessment and Review of the Bam Earthquake Five Years Onward: What Was Done Wrong?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Mohammad Hosein Kalantar Motamedi ,
Masoud Saghafinia ,
Azadeh Hassani Bafarani  and
Farzad Panahi
Mohammad Hosein Kalantar Motamedi*
Affiliation:
Professor, Trauma Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Masoud Saghafinia
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Trauma Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Azadeh Hassani Bafarani
Affiliation:
Engineer, Natural Disaster Research Institute, Tehran, Iran
Farzad Panahi
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Head, Trauma Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
*
Africa Expressway Golestan St., Giti Blvd. No. 11, Tehran, Iran E-mail: motamedical@lycos.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction:

An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale on 23 December 2003 devastated the city of Bam in southeastern Iran. During the response and recovery phases, considerable shortcomings were discovered. The dire situation in the affected area, a variety of urgently required interventions, and the large number of aid organizations involved brought about difficulties in management, coordination, and communication among authorities and aid organizations. This article highlights flaws in management in the var-ious aspects of this disaster in order to assess what was done, and what should be done to overcome these shortcomings in future disasters.

Methods:

A retrospective review of the various aspects of management related to the Bam disaster was done via the assessment of files, multi-center studies, governmental data, and available literature from 2003–2008.

Results:

A review of the available data relevant to search and rescue (S&R) operations and short-term aid provision revealed flaws in different aspects of disaster management including personnel, the transfer of the injured, availability medical supplies, treatment planning, problems concerning the composition of treatment forces dispatched to the region, distribution of tasks among treatment workers, transferring of equipment, availability of facilities, and lack of coordination among the organizations responsible for the management of the disaster. Most of the aforementioned issues have been addressed.

Conclusions:

A comprehensive disaster management plan must not be limited only to the response phase, but rather must include: preparedness, recovery with optimal legislation and budgeting, improvement of healthcare facilities, and organized communication channels between the different governmental departments. This important issue has been addressed, and a disaster management organization under the supervision of the President has been established, developing a national S&R strategy and protocol for unified managerial organization, an alert system, an international disaster command system (under which S&R and emergency medical service teams can be deployed, increasing the efficacy and coordination of the arrival of foreign teams and the con-struction field hospitals), and developing a flowchart to coordinate international agencies and the domestic authorities in charge. Continuous education, training of the general population, conducting periodic exercise drills, and provision for prepared task force mobilization in disaster management all are important aspects of the management of disasters due to natural hazards.

Keywords

Bam earthquakeearthquakeIranmanagement
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 5 , October 2009 , pp. 453 - 460
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Saghafinia, M, Araghizade, H, Nafissi, N, Asadollahi, R: Treatment manage-ment in disaster: A review of the Bam earthquake experience. Prehosp Disaster Med 2007;22(6):517–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Mirhashemi, S, Ghanjal, A, Mohebbi, HA, Moharamzad, Y: The 2003 Bam earthquake: Overview of first aid and transport of victims. Prehosp Disaster Med 2007;22(6):513–516.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Emami, MJ, Tavakoli, AR, Alemzadeh, H, Abdinejad, F, Shahcheraghi, G, Erfani, MA, Mozafarian, K, Solooki, S, Rezazadeh, S, Ensafdaran, A, Nouraie, H, Jaberi, FM, Sharifian, M: Strategies in evaluation and management of Bam earthquake victims. Prehosp Disaster Med 2005;20(5):327–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Tahmasebi, MN, Kiani, K, Mazlouman, SJ, Taheri, A, Kamrani, RS, Panjavi, B, Harandi, BA: Musculoskeletal injuries associated with earthquake. A report of injuries of Iran's 26 December, 2003 Bam earthquake casualties managed in tertiary referral centers. Injury 2005;36(1):27–3.Google Scholar
5.Hatamizadeh, P, Najafi, I, Vanholder, R, Rashid-Farokhi, F, Sanadgol, H, Seyrafian, S, Mooraki, A, Atabak, S, Samimagham, H, Pourfarziani, V, Broumand, B, Van Biesen, W, Lameire, N: Epidemiologic aspects of the Bam earthquake in Iran: The nephrologic perspective. Am J Kidney Dis 2006;47(3):428–438.Google Scholar
6.Nia, MS, Nafissi, N, Moharamzad, Y: Survey of Bam earthquake survivors' opinions on medical and health systems services. Prehosp Disaster Med 2008;23(3):263–268. discussion 269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Abolghasemi, H, Radfar, MH, Khatami, M, Nia, MS, Amid, A, Briggs, SM: International medical response to a natural disaster: Lessons learned from the Bam earthquake experience. Prehosp Disaster Med 2006;21(3):141–147.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Abolghasemi, H, Poorheidari, G, Mehrabi, A, Foroutan, G: Iranian military forces in the Bam earthquake. Mil Med 2005;170(10):859–861.Google Scholar
9.Montazeri, A, Baradaran, H, Omidvari, S, Azin, SA, Ebadi, M, Garmaroudi, G, Harirchi, AM, Shariati, M: Psychological distress among Bam earthquake sur-vivors in Iran: A population-based study. BMC Public Health 2005;11(5):4.Google Scholar
10.Hagh-Shenas, H, Goodarzi, MA, Farajpoor, M, Zamyad, A: Post-traumatic stress disorder among survivors of Bam earthquake 40 days after the event. East Mediterr Health J 2006;12:s118–125.Google Scholar
11.Ghaffari-Nejad, A, Ahmadi-Mousavi, M, Gandomkar, M, Reihani-Kermani, H: The prevalence of complicated grief among Bam earthquake survivors in Iran. Arch Iran Med 2007;10(4):525–528.Google ScholarPubMed
12.Sepehri, G, Meimandi, MS; Pattern of drug prescription and utilization among Bam residents during the first six months after the 2003 Bam earth-quake. Prehosp Disaster Med 2006;21(6):396–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Movaghar, AR, Goodarzi, RR, Izadian, E, Mohammadi, MR, Hosseini, M, Vazirian, M: The impact of Bam earthquake on substance users in the first 2 weeks: A rapid assessment. J Urban Health 2005;82(’3):370–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Akbari, ME, Farshad, AA, Asadi-Lari, M: The devastation of Bam: An overview of health issues 1 month after the earthquake. Public Health 2004;118(6):403–408.Google Scholar
15.Nasrabadi, AN, Naji, H, Mirzabeigi, G, Dadbakhs, M: Earthquake relief: Iranian nurses' responses in Bam, 2003, and lessons learned. Int Nurs Rev 2007;54(1):13–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Pinera, JF, Reed, RA, Njiru, C: Restoring sanitation services after an earth-quake: Field experience in Bam, Iran. Disasters 2005;29(3):222–236.Google Scholar
17.Saghafinia, M: A opinion poll taken to assess the satisfaction of Bam earth-quake victims. Research Thesis, Tehran: Trauma Research Center Publications, 2007.Google Scholar