Emergency Precautions

Northern Advocate, 2 April 1941, Page 4

Emergency Precautions

THE purpose behind all the emergency precautions which are being planned and put into execution at the present time is to ensure that if a crisis of any kind should develop suddenly the people of the Dominion would not be taken unawares and find themselves helpless to do the things which should be done, and to avoid the things which should not be done, to meet the situation into which they had been catapulted. While preparations to meet any emergency caused by the war are, of course, of primary importance, it should not. be forgotten that crises of many kinds may occur without warning. The history of New Zealand has provided never-to-be-forgotten instances of the havoc wrought by earthquake, pestilence, and other visitations, the existence of which has discovered the people to be utterly unprepared to meet the trials with the speed and efficiency that would have been available if preparation- for such an emergency had been made in time of peace and quiet. The terrible epidemic which followed on the heels of the World War is an impressive instance. While assistance was immediately forthcoming, it was heartrending to find how few volunteers were really capable of giving the aid required for the effective handling of unfortunate sufferers.. The disastrous earthquakes at Napier and Murchison provide illustrations of a different character, but serving, at the same time, to emphasise the vital necessity for the training of men and women in the various branches of work required to meet an emergency. The need for preparation for any call which may be made at a moment’s notice is therefore self-evident, and every young man and woman, and others not so young, should take advantage of the opportunities which exist today for the provision of knowledge required for the defence of the Dominion or for the handling and nursing of sick and injured victimp of disaster of any kind. During last week, Miss Tennant made an appeal along these lines to the ladies of Whangarei, who were urged to make themselves proficient in home nursing and other branches of work which would be required in time of emergency, and which, in any case, would constitute a valuable endowment in everyday life. In the same way young men are being urged to take up first aid and ambulance work-in general, while the Home Guard movement a medium by which men may make themselves better equipped than untrained men would be to assist in the armed defence of their country.

All these preparations if they are to be of maximum value, must be made while strain and stress are non-existent. It is consequently incumbent upon everybody, according to ability, to equip themselves to meet an emergency should such unfortunately occur. It is too late to take swimming lessons when one has fallen into the ocean.