Prevalence and injuries treatment of East Azarbaijan earthquakes in summer 2012

Background: Earthquakes cause numerous losses and damages and victims enter to severe needy complex care and internal surgery. The study proposed to investigate the frequency of the fundamental strategies for reducing injuries and fatalities resulting from earthquakes. Materials and methods: A cross - sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of trauma inflicted on the victims of the earthquake in Tabriz teaching hospitals in summer 2012. The researcher-made checklist was applied for data collection. The validity as well as reliability has been confirmed (0.7 ? ?). The data were analyzed using computerized program SPSS 18. Results: Out of 307 patients, 182 were women (59.28%) and 125 men (40.72%). Most casualties were in the age range of 30-60 years old; 118 cases (38.43 %). Rural areas had more patients (n = 259 (84.36%)) than urban areas, n = 48 (15.64%). Most patients were admitted for orthopedic wards (57%). Majority referrals of earth quake belonged to first two days (72.31%). Fractures were the most common injuries among casualties (62.77%) and lower extremities (29.29%) were the most affected area. Recovery rate was 97.39% as well as 8 (2.61%) victims were died due to extensive injuries. Conclusion: Results of this study showed that most victims were women, rural residents and middle-aged people. Therefore, safety and retrofitting actions should be in placed for rural areas and necessary education for self- protection must be thought for middle-aged people and women. Orthopedic and surgical wards of hospitals hould always be prepared to deal with victims to decrease the event in earthquake situations.