The Implementation of COVID-19 Health Protocol by The Indonesian Red Cross Volunteer on Earthquake Disaster Emergency Response in West Sulawesi

Abstract

Indonesia is geographically located within the assemblage of three plates, namely Indo-
Australia Plate, Eurasia Plate, and Pacific Plate. This plates assemblage causes Indonesia to be a
potential place for natural disaster. An arthquake that recently took place in West Sulawesi have
resulted landslide and forced some districts to be isolated. In an attempt to establish a Disaster
Emergency Response (DER) plan in West Sulawesi, the vital role of volunteer (e.g. The
Indonesian Red Cross) is extremely needed. However, the emergence of an earthquake during
the pandemic have put the crisis mitigation in more complicated stance as both, society and the
volunteer, have to implement control measures in order to prevent the virus to spread more
widely. This study aims to provide an overview of COVID-19 health protocol implementation by
The Indonesian Red Cross (IRC) volunteer during disaster emergency response period in South
Sulawesi. Field observation with descriptive approach was applied as the main method. The
population of this study was subjected to all Indonesian Red Cross Volunteer whose in charge
during disaster emergency response period in South Sulawesi, and purposive sampling technique
with some specific criteria such as; registered as Indonesian Red Cross volunteer proven by
membership card, have been serving for at least a week in DER location, and were in disaster
location when the questionnaire were distributed, was chosen as our sampling method. The
findings revealed that (1) 89% of the volunteers have clearly understood the risk of COVID-19, (2)
58% of them have used the face mask correctly, (3) 73% of them have performed handwashing
with soap and water regularly, (4) 38% of them have implemented physical distancing in disaster
location, while the rest 62% volunteers were reported otherwise.