Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Challenges in Disaster; A Qualitative Study

Introduction: prehospital emergencymedical care (emc) is a critical service in disaster management. the aim of this study was to explore the challenges of prehospital emergencymedical services (ems) during disaster response in iran. methods: a qualitative study was conducted from april 2015 tomarch 2017. data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 23 experienced individuals in the field of disaster that were selected using purposeful sampling. data were analyzed using content analysis approach. results: fifteen subthemes and the following six themes emerged in the analysis: challenges related to people, challenges related to infrastructure, challenges related to information management systems, challenges related to staff, challenges related to managerial issues and challenges related to medical care. conclusion: iran’s prehospital ems has been chaotic in past disasters. improvement of this process needs infrastructure reform, planning, staff training and public education.