Challenges of scene management in traffic collisions from the perspective of road emergency responders in east Azerbaijan, Iran

Abstract

Introduction Thousands of traffic collisions occur each year on Iran’s roads. This study aimed to investigate the challenges of scene management in road traffic collisions in the East Azerbaijan Province of Iran. Methods Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews and analysed by content coding and merging. Subcategories and themes were then extracted after integrating similar codes. Participants were selected using the purposive sampling method, and interviews continued until data saturation was reached. Results Twenty participants were interviewed; nine categories were extracted from the collected data: infrastructure problems, lack of responders’ preparedness, triage challenges, deficiencies and limitations, management of special (hazardous) incidents, communication problems with casualties, lack of coordination, lack of psychosocial support from responders, and cultural and social challenges. Conclusion Each traffic collision requires an immediate and effective response; however, this involves several challenges as its process is an inter-sectoral issue. The major challenge is the lack of coordination among different responders. Accordingly, these challenges need to be addressed by developing a comprehensive plan, designing a leading organisation, and developing a comprehensive trauma system.