The pedagogical importance of evacuation drills in schools as a means of increasing the preventive culture in Spain

Abstract

[ENG] Education centres in general represent one of the places in which safety becomes something totally essential, due to the special vulnerability of children. The normal day-to-day practice of a school, supposes a series of risks and therefore it is important for the Educational Community to work actively to ensure that the school environment is as safe as possible. Of all the possible risks, fire is perhaps one of the most feared by society, and it is also that which is most likely to occur. The Educational Community in general, should be aware that the spreading of a correct preventive culture, has as its starting point the “Educational Centre” (Lewis, 2009), and it is of vital importance that this prevention culture, reaches all the pupils and teachers in order to be able to increase the level of prevention in schools and to achieve important progress in this matter at a social level. The schools must be prepared to react correctly when faced with any emergency situation that may arise and thus, if it is important to carry out annual evacuation drills, it is even more determinant that the pupils receive adequate prevention training