School crisis management to be reviewed
Updated: 2015-07-25 08:18
By Timothy Chui in Hong Kong(HK Edition)
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A sweeping review of school crisis management procedures was ordered by the Education Bureau Friday after a bungled, ham-fisted response to a student suicide was lambasted by the Coroner's Court.
Schools citywide were ordered to make student safety their paramount concern in reviews of crisis management checklists ahead of the next academic year.
The bureau is also reviewing guidelines issued to schools following withering criticism of how senior management at Kwai Chung's CCC Kei Chun Primary School handled the five-story fall of a 10-year-old girl on Dec 9, 2013.
Crisis procedures vary from school to school, as does the order of notifying first responders, school management and then parents.
Parental consent is the main reason why some schools must secure family approval before emergency services are contacted. Privacy concerns were also cited, as student identities can be discovered by intercepting ambulance dispatch calls.
The red tape meant to immunize schools from liability blunts the response time needed to deal with life-threatening conditions, parent-teacher associations say.
Only school clerks are authorized to contact emergency services at PLK Fong Wong Kam Chuen Primary School. Tin Shui Wai's Chinese YMCA Primary School requires witnesses to contact school offices and relies on teacher first aid at the onset of an incident before contacting emergency services.
Contacting emergency services was the sixth item on Kwun Tong's SKH Tak Tin Lee Shiu Keung Primary School's crisis management checklist. Eyewitness debriefs, school management notification, first aid and parental notification all take precedence over contacting emergency services.
The inquest into the 2013 death of Law Cheuk-ki heard CCC Kei Chun Primary School Vice-Principal Shek Ling performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation despite heavy and obvious hemorrhaging. Shek allegedly ordered staff to clean up first rather than contacting emergency services.
It was a school janitor acting on his own initiative and against orders who finally called an ambulance.
Kowloon City Federation of Parent-Teacher Association President Isabel Chan Fung-man said the bureau should mandate 999 calls to the top of crisis response procedures. Chan said flexibility in current guidelines had led to a jumbled mixture of emergency procedures.
"The first thing any school should do is call emergency services. The simple fact is (Shek) was more preoccupied with preserving her school's reputation and avoiding the media spotlight than student safety," she said.
Coroner Ko Wai-hung slammed the response by CCC Kei Chun Primary School senior staff over the death at the inquest into Law's death on Thursday. Ko accused Shek of lying under oath after several first responders testified Law was motionless with a visibly broken leg and skull fractures. This is despite Shek informing paramedics Law was capable of walking.
Shek was also admonished for displaying a lack of civility. This was after Shek had made distasteful imitations of the dead girl's family reacting to news of her death.
The Department of Justice and police are considering whether to bring criminal charges while school management is also considering action.
tim@chinadailyhk.com
(HK Edition 07/25/2015 page6)