Measuring level of minimum standards in humanitarian aid (Sphere Standards) knowledge of Turkish Red Crescent Disaster Management personnel

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the minimum standards of knowledge level on Nutrition and Food Security, Shelter and Settlement, Water Supply Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion, Health Activities within the scope of Sphere Standards, which are the minimum standards in humanitarian aid of the personnel of the Turkish Red Crescent Disaster Operation Center and Regional Disaster Management Directorates who respond to national / international disasters and engage in humanitarian aid activities. 185 personnel who work in the disaster field at the Turkish Red Crescent participated to this study. The data is collected using a questionnaire form developed in line with the literature. The questionnaire form consists of two parts: Participant Consent and Information Form including demographic characteristics and the test on the Minimum Standards Knowledge Level Form in Humanitarian Aid. IBM SPSS Statistics 22 program is used for statistical analysis and to evaluate the findings obtained within the scope of the research. Frequency and percentage analysis are used to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants. Mean and standard deviation analyzes from descriptive analyzes are used to determine the participation levels of the participants in the survey. Participants in the research; 81.6% are male, 23.8% are between the ages of 39-42, 13% are unit managers, 7% are experts, 38.4% are officers, 26.5% are with bachelor's degree, 20% are with an associate degree, 31.9% are graduates of a high school, 67% have 10 years or more professional experience and 92.4% have worked in a disaster / extraordinary situation. The results of the research show that there is no significant difference between gender and minimum standards of knowledge in humanitarian aid. It alsa demonstrates that there is a significant negative correlation between the age as well as, professional experience groups of the participants and their humanitarian minimum standards knowledge level. As the age and years of professional experience increase, the level of knowledge decreases. Besides in the study signals a statistically significant difference between the titles as well as, degrees of graduation of the participants and the minimum standards in humanitarian aid (p = 0.00) and a significant positive correlation. In addition, it was determined that as the title and graduation degree of the participants increased, their knowledge level increased. Looking at the places of duty, we can see that the highest level of knowledge is the Disaster Management Deparment, the Ankara Regional Disaster Management Deparment is the second and the Izmir Regional Disaster Management Deparment is the third ranking. It has been determined that the personnel working in a disaster / extraordinary situation (mean rank= 96,21) has a higher level of knowledge of the minimum standards in humanitarian aid compared to the personnel who does not work (mean rank=53,82). Keywords: Disaster Management, Humanitarian Aid, Sphere Standards, Turkish Red Crescent