A study on the determination of disaster awareness and preparedness levels of the disaster personnel of Turkish Red Crescent

The fact that Türkiye is a disaster-prone country and the critical role of the Turkish Red Crescent in disaster management makes it vital to increase the level of disaster awareness and preparedness of the organisation. The resilience of the society against disasters requires leading organisations such as the Turkish Red Crescent to have high capacity in disaster preparedness and response processes. In this sense, this study aims to determine the disaster awareness and disaster preparedness levels of Turkish Red Crescent Disaster Management personnel and to examine the relationship between these levels and demographic factors. Within the scope of the study, HASPAHA scale was used to assess the levels of disaster awareness and preparedness and the results were analysed considering the demographic characteristics of the participants such as age, gender, length of service and position. The findings show that disaster awareness and preparedness levels are significantly affected by factors such as age, gender and length of service. In particular, it was determined that the disaster awareness scores of the personnel with advanced age and long service period were higher. In addition, disaster awareness and benefit perception of male personnel were found to be higher than female personnel. The result of this study points out that it is necessary to restructure training programs aimed at improving disaster awareness and preparedness levels, taking into account demographic factors. The study recommends providing more field training and hands-on learning opportunities for young and short-service staff. It also highlights the need for specific awareness campaigns and training programmes for female staff to ensure gender equality. Implementation of these recommendations will contribute to making TRCS staff more prepared for disasters and increase the overall disaster resilience of the society.