Jury feedback

At the end of the semester, I presented my work about my project to the jury members. As I was on research stage they gave me following feedback:

- They asked me to further research on my topic so that I will be able to know the actual problem area and whom should it be targeted to?
- To categorize the information collected.
- To analyse the information collected so that I know the concerned stakeholders in my project.

Visit to schools

Udgam School, Thaltej.

I met Mrs. Deepa Himani who co ordinates the disaster management courses in the school. She told me that they have special courses for children to train them according to the situations. As Gujrat is been declared as earthquake prone area, it is essential for everyone to have basic knowledge about these disasters. There are fire drill sessions where the people from Fire department are called to train the students. They teach the students to use fire extinguisher and how to map down the plan of the school so that they can choose best way to exit from the school if the fire structs.

These courses are the part of there curriculum and it is fit in their time-table in such a way that every student attends it. This course is for students of third to tenth. From forth class the there is this course known as
'Live Skills' where a movie is featured and immediately after which worksheets are distributed to students which have series of questions regarding the movie shown. Thus this makes the students learn about the topic in a fun manner.

Karnavati Public School.

I met Miss Kanchi Trivedi who is a teacher in this school from 2 years. She told me that in their school the topics like Traffic and road safety, Natural disaster, Health, hygiene and diseases, safety measures against electricity, fire, poisonous objects etc. and First-aid safety. There are lessons about these topics in the text books. Thus teaching about these topics is a part of the curriculum.

Visit to a Fire Station

Visit to Jamalpura Fire Station.

One of the fire in charge person at Jamalpura Fire station told me that there were less cases of children being involved in the fire. Only one case they could memorize of a 3 year old child who was sleeping in a room and  his mother was busy in kitchen when the child woke up and mistakenly closed the door. the child was locked in the room, so mother called at the fire station. Fire ambulance immediately reached the place and rescued the boy by entering in his room from a window. The family lived on a second floor of an apartment in Paldi, Ahmedabad.

Visit to Danapith Fire station.

Here I went to a control room where Mr. Dilip Gadhve who attends the call that come from the people and co ordinates with the near by fire station to immediately reach the place. I also met Mr. Bhavesh Patel who goes on field for rescue operations. He told that once there was a case of of a boy whose hand was stuck in the gap under the door. So the call came to them and they rushed to the place. They used Hydraulic Spreader (its a machine) to lift up the door and his hand was safely removed. They told me that there are many cases where a child falls in the bore-well and then they have to go and take him out. Most of the cases are of fire and water rescue. There have been 735 cases of fire rescue that are filed from 1st of April till mid of October.

Potential harmful situations in the house

After my mind-mapping stage, it was the time to build scenarios. I listed down the possible ways in which at the age of 10-12 years may get hurt and drew small illustrations along with it. I created hypothetical situations to understand my topic well.

Cuts, Infection and Bleeding

Making sandwiches for snackes is a fun thing but while grating the cheese,  Neena gets hurt.

Making sandwiches for snackes is a fun thing but while grating the cheese,  Neena gets hurt.

Sheetal tries to cut apple first time in absence of any adult at home and cuts her finger.

Sheetal tries to cut apple first time in absence of any adult at home and cuts her finger.

Rohan comes out of the bathroom and his hand gets caught in between the door and the wall.

Rohan comes out of the bathroom and his hand gets caught in between the door and the wall.

While playing football, Sushant gets hurt by the ball on face and his nose starts bleeding

While playing football, Sushant gets hurt by the ball on face and his nose starts bleeding

Chaitanya tries to imitate his father and shaves his face and because of little knowledge gets cut on the face.

Chaitanya tries to imitate his father and shaves his face and because of little knowledge gets cut on the face.

Sonam tries the scrubber for the first time and her face becomes re full of rashes.

Sonam tries the scrubber for the first time and her face becomes re full of rashes.

Sameer and Swapnil are brothers and Sameer sprays the deodorant mistakenly on Swapnil face which causes infection to the eyes.

Sameer and Swapnil are brothers and Sameer sprays the deodorant mistakenly on Swapnil face which causes infection to the eyes. 

These medicine bottle is not labeled which can be misunderstood as chocolates by children.

These medicine bottle is not labeled which can be misunderstood as chocolates by children. 

Taniya touches the red chillies drying on the terrace, but forgets to wash her hands and touches her eyes with the same hands which causes irritation to the eyes.

Taniya touches the red chillies drying on the terrace, but forgets to wash her hands and touches her eyes with the same hands which causes irritation to the eyes.

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Electric Shock

Trupti had a bath and tries to switch off the geyser but she is barefoot and her hands are wet. She might get shock.

Trupti had a bath and tries to switch off the geyser but she is barefoot and her hands are wet. She might get shock.

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Falling Objects

Swati wants the chocolate cake that is placed in the refrigerator . To remove it, she had to remove the milk vessel that was placed in the front.

Swati wants the chocolate cake that is placed in the refrigerator . To remove it, she had to remove the milk vessel that was placed in the front.

While doing so, she was not able to hold the heavy milk vessel and as a result  milk spills off.

While doing so, she was not able to hold the heavy milk vessel and as a result  milk spills off.

Vedaant is searching for his lucky ball and the large drawer falls off on his feet.

Vedaant is searching for his lucky ball and the large drawer falls off on his feet. 

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Falls, Bruises and Sprains

Prasad falls off the swing while playing the garden

Prasad falls off the swing while playing the garden

Karan is hurries to go to play and falls off the stairs.

Karan is hurries to go to play and falls off the stairs.

Vidya is practicing and gets hit by the furniture in the room which causes sprain in her foot.

Vidya is practicing and gets hit by the furniture in the room which causes sprain in her foot.

Rajesh climbs up his bunk bed in a hurry and slips off the bed and gets hurt.

Rajesh climbs up his bunk bed in a hurry and slips off the bed and gets hurt.

Deven falls off the wires that are accumulated near his computer table.

Deven falls off the wires that are accumulated near his computer table.

Rudra pretends himself as a super hero and is jumping from bed to the chair and again to the bed. He falls of and  gets hurt.

Rudra pretends himself as a super hero and is jumping from bed to the chair and again to the bed. He falls of and  gets hurt.

Vishal runs to open the door and slips off the door mat.

Vishal runs to open the door and slips off the door mat.

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Fire, Burns and Scalds

Girls at this age like to cook and cooking maggi is always fun. Girls like to imitate their mothers and want to cook like them but less do they know is that they might get hurt if not take necessary precautions.

Girls at this age like to cook and cooking maggi is always fun. Girls like to imitate their mothers and want to cook like them but less do they know is that they might get hurt if not take necessary precautions.

Raunak being hungry, finds pasta in the fridge, wants to eat it. Keeps it in the microwave but forgets to wear hand gloves.

Raunak being hungry, finds pasta in the fridge, wants to eat it. Keeps it in the microwave but forgets to wear hand gloves.

Shweta is cooking maggi but leaves the kitchen to attend the call. Comes back after 20 mins. Meanwhile the gas goes off because of the wind coming through the window. Isn't it dangerous?

Shweta is cooking maggi but leaves the kitchen to attend the call. Comes back after 20 mins. Meanwhile the gas goes off because of the wind coming through the window. Isn't it dangerous?

Radhika is ironing the clothes and forgets to switch off the button which  leads to catch fire in the house.

Radhika is ironing the clothes and forgets to switch off the button which  leads to catch fire in the house. 

Vikram tries to act smart and is playing with the candle flame. His concentration looses and gets a burn on a finger.

Vikram tries to act smart and is playing with the candle flame. His concentration looses and gets a burn on a finger.

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Locked in a place

Lokesh is locked in the lift while coming from school.

Lokesh is locked in the lift while coming from school.

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Suffocating and Chocking

Vimal comes home from his basket ball practice. He is tired and rushes towards the kitchen, opens the fridge to drink water, but does not see the label on the bottle which says Vineger.

Vimal comes home from his basket ball practice. He is tired and rushes towards the kitchen, opens the fridge to drink water, but does not see the label on the bottle which says Vineger.

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Unsafe objects lying in the house

Paraag being a fan of Sachin Tendulkar, practices cricket at home. But that ball may hit any one coming from the opposite direction or it might just go and hit the show pieces in the house.

Paraag being a fan of Sachin Tendulkar, practices cricket at home. But that ball may hit any one coming from the opposite direction or it might just go and hit the show pieces in the house.

He may walk mistakenly on the glass pieces.

He may walk mistakenly on the glass pieces.

Naveen used many pins for displaying his drawing in his study room but is unaware that one of them has fallen in his room.

Naveen used many pins for displaying his drawing in his study room but is unaware that one of them has fallen in his room.

Vivek is working on his craft project when he mistakenly glues his fingers.

Vivek is working on his craft project when he mistakenly glues his fingers.

Tushar tries to remove the book from under the table, but gets hurt on his head.

Tushar tries to remove the book from under the table, but gets hurt on his head. 

Guide Meeting

Yesterday, I met Tarun for the discussion regarding my project. First thing that he asked me is what is difference between Hazard and Disaster? And I just said that disaster is next stage of hazard. Thus Tarun sent me a weblink of a site named 'Disaster Risk Reduction' where these two terms are defined as follows:

Hazard: A potential event that could cause loss of life, or damage to property or the environment.

Disaster: The serious disruption of the functioning of society causing widespread human, material or environmental losses, which exceeds the ability of the affected communities to cope using their own resources. Disasters occur when the negative effects of the hazards are not well managed.

Then I briefly told him that I have completed my mind mapping stage and am looking forward to next step that is building scenarios. He told me that yes, I am on right track. I need to talk to some schools who conduct fire drill sessions for students, where the teachers teach students the rescue plans. One of my classmates told me about Disaster Management sessions that are conducted in the school, to teach students to deal with calamity prone situations.

Also Tarun told me to go to a fire station and meet Mr. Dastur, who is incharge there and to ask him that have been there any cases where a child or a family is caught in fire, in there house and how did they rescue them and what was there plan of action. Tarun told me to ask Suresh, if he could give some number of a person from Gujrat State Disaster Management Authority. GSDMA is a constitution by the Government of Gujrat. The Authority has been created as a permanent arrangement to handle the natural calamities.

My guide asked me to decide, what age group of children am I targeting to and also from what income group do they belong? What can be the possible professions of the parents of these children.

All the above factors will help me in building hypothetical scenarios, which is the next step in my project.

Mind mapping

Considering my topic in mind, I brainstormed on it. I categorized according to the types of families, types of houses, different areas in a house which can be a cause of an accident and types of injuries etc. Initially I noted all the points and later categorized them.

This brainstorming activity did help me. also I was reading some books which gave me good inputs for my project.

Project Proposal

When I finalized the topic, I researched on a topic a bit. Now I had an overview of what I will be doing further and for whom. The objective of my project, who is it targeted to and will it solve the problem area. I went again to Tarun (project guide) and discussed my understanding about the subject with him. He asked me to do few changes and re arranging the text. also he asked me two design the proposal without using any colour.

Following is my project proposal: 

Re - designed proposal