SEEDS EDUCATES SCHOOL CHILDREN ON FIRE SAFETY METHODS

New Delhi: The high number of casualties during fires that occurred in the National Capital recently showed poor planning and lax enforcement of safety regulations. Most of the buildings in our cities fail to meet fire safety and other norms exposing people to hazards. Lack of fire safety training and how to deal with such incidents only makes matters worse. Children are the most vulnerable in such situations. In this context, SEEDS, as a part of its Honeywell Safe Schools programme conducted a fire safety workshop at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya (SKV) No. 3, Mandawali, to educate children about fire safety and recovery methods .

Mr Yezdani Rahman, Chief of Programmes, SEEDS, said, The Honeywell Safe Schools programme involves preparing school children to deal with various disasters, like earthquake, landslide, cloud burst or fire accidents, road accidents, etc. The recent fire incidents in the city re-instil the need of safety training among communities. Under the programme, we regularly educate children on safety and disaster preparedness aspects. Keeping the recent occurrence of fire accidents, we planned this month’s interactive session to spread awareness about fire safety.”

During the event, participants were counselled on facets of fire safety with a mock drill. The drill began with a siren which was a cue for the children to evacuate the building and assemble at a common point. Thereafter, a live demonstration was given on search and rescue procedures, involving rescuing of people trapped in a building that is surrounded in flames. The session also included treating burn injuries. Children were also taught how to use fire extinguishers.

The students found the session on fire safety every informative and felt that each student should be aware on all aspects pertaining to procedures to follow in case of a fire. Some of the students also shared that although they have seen fire extinguishers placed in various buildings, they were unware on how to use them. The session turned out to be extremely enriching and full of learnings for them.