Providing a Model for Location of Health Centers to Reduce the Travel Time of Injured People during Earthquakes (Case Study: City of Kermanshah-Iran)

ABSTRACT Earthquake, because of the extent of its domain and the severity of damages that makes, is considered as one of the world’s most recognized natural disasters and is among the factors that can lead to a crisis. Iran, due to being located in the Alpine-Himalayan earthquake belt, is no exception to this rule and considered as one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Seismic zoning map of Iran shows that two-thirds of the country is located on the high-risk earthquake axis; hence, Iran is reportedly ranked among the 10 countries of the world most vulnerable to natural disasters. After an earthquake, relief assistance is very important to reduce losses and it is made possible by facilities including forces, equipment and appropriate infrastructures. To achieve these objectives, it is necessary to take precautionary measures as soon as possible. Hospitals, as the first and most important treatment centers for injured people must be ready to provide health care in the best way possible in the event of a disaster. To achieve good performance in critical situations, hospitals need a disaster and crisis preparedness plan. Such a plan should be based on identifying vulnerable points; accordingly, the present paper seeks to design a model by which it will be possible to achieve the mentioned objectives, namely, determining suitable locations for the construction and establishment of health centers. The model is used to consider the location of health centers based on the minimum distance between the scene of disaster and the hospital and the maximum level of service in each area. To solve the model, the information of Kermanshah Metropolis was used. In fact, the model has been framed as a mathematical model along with knowledge of Operations Research and solved using a heuristic algorithm. The results of this model show that the construction health centers in new areas has a large impact on reducing the travel time of injured people.

location, earthquake, health centers, Kermanshah