The Israeli desert area – the “Negev” covers almost half of the whole country’s area. Each year tens of thousands of school trips take place in this area, which also poses several known potential major climatic and terrain risks:
- sudden unexpected floods,
- sinkholes (deep unseen covered holes in the ground) and the possibility of dehydration and getting sun stroke, especially during the summer when the temperature can reach 40c degrees and more.
All these are well known and therefore, prior permission to embark on organized trips is normally required. The Israeli Ministry of Education also operates a “situation room” in which approvals and supervision of school trips in real time are provided – each year around 160,000 such approvals are granted and without one, no school can embark on a field trip.
Unfortunately, last month, at the end of April 2018, 10 post school graduates, travelling with their post secondary educational body, got trapped in sudden unexpected floods and lost their lives in very tragic circumstances. The mechanism of the trip’s control was not properly utilized. On that day the Israeli Ministry of Education had cancelled around 90 requests from schools to travel in the desert, due to flood alerts. Unfortunately, this post graduate boarding school was not obliged by law to get such a permit, and someone there, took a horribly wrong decision.
9 of the 10 travelers were females (physical strength can play some part in it). The floods which started suddenly in the afternoon, caught these students by surprise in a narrow high walled valley creek where despite a good route and hanging aids, it was really hard to pull oneself up when the forceful flood came rushing in. When trucks and buses are carried away like light toothpicks, one can imagine that getting out safely would be a tricky task for any defenseless hiker.
This tragic event has shocked the nation and was declared a national disaster. The organizers of this trip are now facing criminal charges of gross negligence and man slaughter – they are likely to spend years in prison.
This story teaches us, school trip organizers and operators, several important lessons:
- It is better not to defy the mighty forces of nature and ignore public weather alerts. Better to postpone a trip than to bury friends and colleagues later.
- Never set out on such an adventurous trip without having situation room approvals and tracking (where such exist), even if it is not required by the local state law.
- There should be some clear written guidelines or procedures guiding the educational team on how to behave if potential risks are detected or communicated to organizers.
- Lastly, students should follow their instincts. If one has an uncomfortable feeling before setting out on some risky trip or activity, do not yield to social pressure or shyness and express your concerns, even refuse to participate.
You can read more on this story in these links:
- https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5242124,00.html
- https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Multiple-youth-feared-dead-in-southern-Israel-flash-floods-552823
For more advisory and technical guidance as to how to describe and prepare effective guidelines for mitigating and minimizing educational trips potential risks, contact EBI Group Inc.
