New information campaign “Be close to your child!” from the Ministry of Emergency Situations
Currently, the problem of child injuries and deaths of children from external causes, including as a result of fires and other emergencies, is one of the most pressing.
In 2022, 112 children died from external causes in the country, 14 of them in fires. In 2023, 4 children died in fires, one of them in the Vitebsk region, and five were injured.
A woman and her young son died in a fire in Orsha. The tragedy occurred on April 15, 2023. Upon arrival at the scene, the MES units observed nothing, but during reconnaissance, a smell of smoke was detected in the entrance hall. According to eyewitnesses, the fire started in an apartment on the second floor of a five-story building. A young woman born in 1995 lived there with her sister born in 1998 and her two sons born in 2015 and 2017. During the firefighting operations, the MES workers found a woman born in 1995 and her son born in 2017 in an unconscious state in the apartment. After resuscitation measures by the ambulance team, their death was confirmed. According to the conclusion of the investigative bodies, the cause of the fire was either children's mischief with fire or careless handling of fire while smoking by the deceased. And, of course, a contributing factor in almost all fires with fatalities is alcohol consumption. The woman had consumed alcohol at her friend's place the day before.
The majority of incidents involving children occur during the holiday period. For example, in July, two children, students from Orsha and Vitebsk, received burns in fires in the Vitebsk region.
On July 8, 2023, a child with burns covering 40% of their body was admitted to the emergency room of the Orsha City Hospital from the village of Torchilovo. According to the circumstances of the investigation, the mother was with her children at a dacha plot. They lit a fire outdoors to cook food. While the mother was momentarily distracted, her 9-year-old son took a container of gasoline from the house and brought it to the fire. His sister dipped a skewer from the grill into it. As a result, a flare-up occurred, and the boy's shorts caught fire. The mother extinguished the clothing herself and took the child to the hospital.
On July 31, 2023, at 17:57, the operational management center received a report from medical personnel stating that a child with burns had been admitted to the emergency room of the Vitebsk Regional Clinical Hospital. From the circumstances of the investigation, it was learned that a girl born in 2009, along with her two brothers born in 2012 and 2019, were visiting their grandmother in the agro-town of Tarasenki, Vitebsk District. The children were playing near a fire on the property. The girl attempted to jump over the fire, tripped, and fell into it. The grandmother immediately called the children's mother, and upon returning from work, the woman took her daughter to the hospital herself. As a result of carelessness, the schoolgirl was hospitalized with burns of varying severity, covering approximately 23% of her body.
Often, the decisive factor in the occurrence of such incidents is the lack of adult supervision. Sometimes, appeals do not yield the desired results, remain unheard, and parents, in turn, pay little attention to teaching children basic safety rules. Even worse, they sometimes set an example of unsafe behavior themselves.
Statistics on child fatalities in water are also disappointing. This year, 13 minors have drowned in the country. In our region, tragedies occurred in the Miory, Polotsk, and Postavy districts.
To once again draw parents' attention to the existing social problem, the Ministry of Emergency Situations has launched a new information campaign entitled "Be Close to Your Child!".
The main goal is to prevent child deaths in fires and bodies of water, to influence parents' careless attitude towards child safety issues, and to motivate them not to leave children unattended.
The information campaign is based on the established notion of a parent monitoring their child via phone and demonstrates situations where a child is in danger, and the parent can only call but not help. At the same time, when creating outdoor advertising, there is no depiction of a child in immediate danger. Their role is taken by a child's smartphone. It is the phone that ends up at the epicenter of the tragedy. This is where the main idea lies: behind the seemingly bright picture – the phone, which has replaced the child everyone assumes is there – lies a very important message, revealed in a concise slogan. "A phone will not watch your child!" – this phrase, combined with the visual, fully demonstrates the consequences of an irresponsible attitude towards child safety.
It should be noted that the success of the project depends on many factors, so the Ministry of Emergency Situations staff approached it with a broad scope – a whole brand package has been developed, all aimed at drawing parents' attention to child safety.
For maximum dissemination of the information campaign, bright billboards will appear in the vicinity of settlements.
Leaflets with useful information will fill the internet space and update stands in all public places of the country. Original brochures with safety rules for moms and dads, popping up as notifications on a conditional phone screen, will become the main tool for Ministry of Emergency Situations staff during campaign events.
The brochure "Encyclopedia of Safety for Parents", designed in watercolor graphics style, illustrates in an accessible way all sorts of dangers that await children on the street and at home. This type of visual and illustrative product will help to reinforce the acquired knowledge for visitors of educational safety centers, as well as for parents attending presentations by EMERCOM employees in work collectives.
Thus, rescuers will cover the maximum target audience and try to reach every parent – to urge them not to leave children unattended, to be with their child to prevent possible tragedy and to teach them safety rules.
Don't stay aside: join the campaign and ensure a safe childhood for your children!