Stampede survival

New Year's Eve tragedy prompts parents and schools to teach crowd safety to children

The New Year's Eve stampede in Shanghai brought back terrible memories for 52-year-old He Ning, who experienced a similar accident at the Beijing Railway Station when he was young.

"I was 9 or 10 years old," said He. "There were hordes of people pushing past each other on the square. Suddenly, some people in front of me fell. Before I had time to react, I fell too. It felt like I was under a collapsing mountain. Just as I felt I could not breathe, a policeman dragged me out of the chaotic crowd." He added that he was lucky and didn't get seriously hurt.

Now he is the father of two boys who study at a primary school in Chaoyang district. This incident coupled with the tragedy in Shanghai has made him concerned about making sure his kids don't get caught in a similar situation.

On December 31, 2014, a stampede broke out during New Year's Eve celebrations on Chenyi Square on the Bund, killing 36 people and injuring 49. The youngest victim was 12 years old. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, the Xinhua News Agency reported on January 8.

The stampede in Shanghai followed 14 similar accidents that took place in China since 2000, and eight of these stampedes occurred in schools, the Beijing News reported on January 8. The most recent was on September 26, 2014 at a primary school in Kunming, Yunnan Province. Six students died and 22 were injured, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

"Before the Shanghai stampede, many parents thought that there was no danger because tragedies like this one are very rare, but I think [this case reminded us that] a safety drill on stampede survival in schools is very important," He said.

"I know that many companies overseas have regular, mandatory fire drills where they practice how to react to emergencies in real life. But in China, such practice is rare for both adults and children,"said He, who works in financial investment. "At [my sons'] school, teachers just read the instructions to students, and they still do not know how to react if there is a stampede."

He said that at this time, there is no stampede survival drill at his sons' school. Zhou Yan, mother of an 11-year-old boy, told Metropolitan that there is no such drill at her son's school, either.

"After the Shanghai stampede, we received a notification from our child's school about how to prevent stampedes and how to react if there is one," Zhou said. "I once told him not to push and squeeze and to stay away from crowds in public places, but I did not teach him how to protect himself in the case of a stampede because I, myself, do not know what to do."

Some schools are taking measures to practice drills with their students. Lü Wei, chief instructor at the China Public Security Guard Training Center, a Beijing-based company that provides safety training, said they're cooperating with schools, non-governmental organizations, and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education to provide emergency training, including evacuation drills and stampede survival drills in schools.

Lü said that drills are better for students and teachers than a teacher giving instructions or demonstrations in class because a drill better captures people's attention. However, these measures may still be far from enough, he said.

"Many tips spread widely on the Internet or practices undertaken by some schools are wrong," he said. "Moreover, there are still some schools that do [safety education] just as a formality to please their leaders."

Yu Gaoyan, a parenting author and former pediatrician at Shanghai Children's Hospital, said it's really important for parents to educate their children on the dangers of crowds and stampedes.

So just what do you tell your children about staying safe if a stampede happens?

"If you are caught in a crowd and cannot control your movement, don't stop, try to squeeze through or turn around," she said. "Stay stable and follow the stream of people to avoid falling. In this process, find a gap and move toward the side of the crowd to get out of it."

"If you fall and can't get up, fold your hands behind your head to protect it and curl on your side in the fetal position to protect your vital organs.