Provide an optimum method for relief routing to transfer potential earthquake injured (case study: the city of Tabriz)

Earthquake as a major natural disaster always imposes irreversible damages to human settlements in a short time. The transfer of the injured and casualties to safe places and medical centers is one of the important issues after earthquakes. Public transportation system after an earthquake is a safe way to relief transport, firefighting and etc. Tabriz is one of the major cities in Iran which placed in a high-risk earthquake zone. Proximity to fault line, massive industrial, cultural and historical investment made Tabriz as the most dangerous city in terms of earthquake. However, high distressed areas, narrow streets and the need to timesaving in relief prove the necessity of optimal routing in order to evacuate the affected people. The model of network analysis used in this study is a 4-step hierarchical process with functions along the way, path speed and type, the obstacles in the path and closeness index; as well as functions, factors and criteria such as capacity of health centers, risk location and etc. has been involved. The findings are as follows: the time of injured transferring to the hospital varies from 3 to 30 minutes (with an average of 8.14 min); there is no way from the hospitals of Artesh, Sina, 29 Bahman and Shahriyar because being away from the center of the crisis and location; however, the hospitals of Shams, Children’s, Emam Reza have two paths due to their proximity to the crisis centers. According to the results, the time obtained to carry the injured and casualties to the medical centers is not optimal; thus a basic review should be done in order to locate the crisis center in hospitals and medical centers.