In Bunkyo Ward, Japan's first evacuation shelters for pregnant women and babies have been set up at four universities in the ward.At Japan Women's University, one of them, we are studying preparations for operating a shelter exclusively for pregnant women and babies with student participation and simulation of capacity with the university secretariat.
In this initiative, students planned to prepare for the opening of an evacuation center as a graduation thesis research, and conducted a questionnaire survey on the volunteer consciousness of university students who could be supporters.First, the students received the evacuation shelter opening kit created by Bunkyo Ward for general evacuation shelters, and applied the contents to develop the Japan Women's University version of the maternity and baby relief center opening kit.In addition, in the social cooperation course "Creative Project Exercise to Create the Future with Regions and Companies", we will discuss with Bunkyo Ward and the university secretariat, and students will examine the operation method and support contents of the first aid station and the evacuation center opening kit. We planned and implemented development and opening training using kits.
In the online class by Zoom held in December 2020, the person in charge of the Bunkyo Ward Disaster Prevention Division and the secretariat in charge of disaster prevention and social cooperation of the university also participated, and students of 12 to 2 years gave a presentation on the management plan. A total of 4 people can be accommodated at Japan Women's University, which was estimated by the 4th graders in their graduation thesis.Based on this figure, we verified the opening kit considering countermeasures against the new coronavirus infectious disease, created a timeline, and built a preparation system that can be accepted within one hour from the occurrence of a large earthquake.In planning, I gave priority to the reason that I wanted to reassure the mother and child as soon as possible, but there was a problem of lack of manpower, and the person in charge of Bunkyo Ward pointed out that "regular training is necessary".
Students have proposed to create a student volunteer recruitment site as a student-participation-type management system and to widely reach out to students.In response to this proposal, the person in charge of Bunkyo Ward introduced that the operation method of student volunteers is being studied in particular, and the university secretariat commented that the actual role of student volunteers is important. ..
According to Professor Kyoko Hirata of the Department of Housing, Faculty of Home Economics, Bunkyo Ward conducts evacuation shelter opening training for each evacuation center, and other local governments are also conducting evacuation shelter opening training.However, it is said that there are not enough achievements in planning and training for opening evacuation centers that have functions linked to medical care, such as maternal and infant relief centers.
There were actual cases involving universities in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, but there are also issues such as insufficient publicity and a small number of users.Professor Hirata said, "It is necessary to plan and train before the disaster, and there are few examples of searching for a student participation type even before the disaster.In the future, the social cooperation class "Creative Project Exercise to Create the Future with Regions and Companies" will be held in the first half of 2021, and we will continue to consider the establishment and operation of evacuation centers. "
