Self-protection of persons with disabilities in emergency situations
Amir Nourani, Ministry of Interior, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
After the Second World War, statistics indicate that
war action, in contradiction with International Regulations and humanitarian
issues, is mostly directed against civilians, particularly in the Developing
World. Evidence of war in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and the Iran/Iraq
war, as well as the very recent Persian Gulf War, reveals that defenceless
and vulnerable groups were targeted in order to weaken the opposition morally
and wear down their resistance. In light of the above, this paper deals
primarily with the training of one of the most vulnerable of these groups
- disabled people - in self-protection in the event of an emergency. Here
we would like to discuss in detail the procedures for training people with
disabilities and their families in the use of special equipment and facilities
as well as in the preparation for emergency situations. Also, we will discuss
the transformation of the built environment into one that allows the disabled
person adequate mobility. Here the architects and engineers have been consulted
and their ideas combined to provide the most comprehensive results.
In the second segment of the discussion we will present suggestions that
are necessary to gain government assistance in order to get the plans and
revisions put into action. Several disabled individuals were questioned
regarding their top priority needs that are still unmet in their daily lives.
We offer appropriate solutions to these unmet needs and also offer plans
to be submitted to our government for the implementation of these solutions.
It is our belief that most likely, similar plans may be adopted for the
governments of the other participating nations at this seminar.
We welcome this opportunity to share with the other developing countries
of the world the progress that the Islamic Republic has made in this area,
since the issue of disability has been a very prominent one since the Iran/Iraq
war, when so many of our citizens were injured.
