On Monday morning we held a fire drill at our school in Dehradun for children with mental and physical disabilities. Forty-five students, many in wheelchairs, calipers and walkers, all with mental handicaps, filed quietly out of the building in just under three minutes. Not perfect, but not too bad.
Yesterday, a week after the tragedy in Tamil Nadu where nearly 100 children were incinerated in a fire which engulfed their school, ceremonies were held around the state to “pay homage to the departed souls”. Silent processions, prayer services and a market bandh were some of the public expressions of grief.
But please. Spare us the empty gestures. The only tribute we can offer these children and their families now is to wake up to our collective responsibility as adults, to stop pointing fingers at everyone in sight and start changing the way we live.
Disasters happen. Earthquakes, fires, floods, cyclones. There is no end to the list. The question is how do we respond? Are we prepared? Have we trained our staff, our children, ourselves?
India is pathetic in its response to emergencies. How difficult is it to hold evacuation drills in schools? We are not all school principals, but most of us are parents. Why do we not demand that our children be safe in school?
Schools are the easiest place to begin establishing a culture of safety consciousness in our country. Students are a captive audience, teachers are trained. Scrap mass PT, which serves no real purpose anyway, and start practicing evacuation drills instead.
It is remarkable what this will accomplish: after the very first drill, the whole school will suddenly look different. Staircases, once just a way to go up to the first floor, are seen as the potential deathtraps they are. Rooms without windows, rooms with just one exit, thatched roofs: they all start to look deadly.
Practicing evacuation procedures also helps teachers to identify other problem areas: Is there a child in the bathroom who hasn’t heard the alarm? Is there a child with a disability who may need help to get out quickly? Is there an attendance list so that children can be counted once they are out of the building? Is there a rule of silence so that teachers’ orders can be heard by all? Is there an agreed upon “all clear” signal for when it is safe to go back inside? All these things can only be sorted out through practice.
One of the most important benefits of regular drills is that students learn to quietly and matter-of-factly follow their teachers’ instructions, even in a serious emergency. Teachers also learn how crucial their role is in maintaining calm and discipline. Knowing from experience that the entire school can be evacuated in under three minutes gives them a feeling of control and assurance which communicates itself to the children in their care. Without panic and fear to confuse the issue and cause chaos, teachers are able to move quietly and powerfully to avert or resolve the crisis.
The ripple effects of such training are also enormous. Children who grow up practicing how to respond to emergencies in school are better prepared for the many crises life will throw their way: road accidents, someone choking at a party, a fire at a wedding hall or in a theatre.
For the moment, however, we are the grownups here. The disgrace of so many children dying in Tamil Nadu can only be forgiven by positive action. Let their agonizing, needless deaths shame us into a commitment to protecting the lives of the children still with us. Parents, teachers, principals, building inspectors citizens: it is up to each one of us.
