2023 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 104-114
The purpose of this study was to clarify the awareness and efforts of teachers in special needs education schools with regard to disaster drills in snowy and cold regions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six teachers. The results showed that, in addition to feeling concern owing to the characteristics of children, teachers thought that “Evacuation drills in winter is related to the physical condition of the children”, they felt a strong overall sense of purpose and responsibility characterized by the idea that “[They] have to protect the children” However, they had made efforts to “Try disaster drills in winter” with consideration for the effects on the children that would accompany the snow and cold. Additionally, from an awareness of the “Difficulty of evacuating on snowy roads” and “Not being able to evacuate without sufficient manpower”, they made efforts to “Divide tasks amongst themselves to evacuate the children”. Because “The children cannot be evacuated if they are confused”, efforts such as “Encouraging the children to picture the situation for themselves” were made so that they can form an idea of what is going to happen. The need was suggested for collaboration between healthcare and education to resolve the issues faced during disaster drills in winter, and to investigate how to make disaster drills in winter safer for children.
