IN EMERGENCY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 188, 11 August 1941, Page 2

IN EMERGENCY

PROTECTION OF CHILDREN

RECOM MEX DA TIO X S MADE (0.C.) WELLINGTON, Sunday. Means of affording the best possible protection for children in the event of an emergency arising have been the subject of a thorough investigation. It is expected that the precautionary measures already taken will be supplemented by plans calculated to operate with a high degree of efficiency. So far as the schools are concerned a lead in the all-important task of devising plans for the children's safety in a crisis has been given by the Director of Education, Dr. C. E. Beeby, while the setting up of protection of schoolchildren committees undTer the Emergency Precautions Scheme has also been of value in getting the organising of protective measures under way.

Points made in a memorandum issued by the Education Department indicate measures that should be adopted by those directly responsible for the care of the children in an emergency. Head teachers should be appointed wardens or subwardens under the Emergency Precautions Scheme. Emergency drills for speedy exit from buildings and for the sending of children to their homes should be practised frequently. First-aid classes for senior pupils "should be arranged wherever possible.

In the larger schools arrangements should be made with the fire-fighting committee of the E.P.S. for the training of fire-fighting squads drawn from the teachers and senior pupils. It should be understood that in an emergency a committee's main function is the return of children to their homes as soon as possible. The question of digging shelter trenches has also been raised, but it is understood that little, if any, of this particular type of protective work is being done.