Childcare providers assure parents that Canberra centres are safe from the kind of inferno that killed 13 children, including three New Zealand triplets, in a Qatari crèche this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The blaze broke out in a shopping mall in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Monday, killing 19 people, and tearing through its childcare facility, named Gympanzee.
The tragedy has rocked Qatar and New Zealand, but has also raised questions about how ACT childcare centres prepare for emergencies.
ACT Fire and Rescue Commander Mark Phillips said Canberra's childcare centres were well-equipped to deal with fires, and to get children to safety quickly and effectively.
Firefighters regularly inspect sites, making sure they are safe, have working fire alarms and have appropriate plans to evacuate kids.
Like most buildings, ACT childcare centres have well-drilled evacuation plans.
Many centres have special ''fire cots'' or ''emergency cots'', which will be used to rush the centre's babies out during a fire.
Some facilities, including the Fyshwick Early Childhood Centre, use sets of linked rings to help safely evacuate their children.
The children are taught to each hold onto a ring, before being led to safety by staff.
Southside Community Services children services unit manager Katherine Hellwig said this allows for the workers to account for all children, and make sure no one has been trapped inside.
''It definitely plays in the back of our minds, and that's why we give our emergency procedures on induction to new staff members and it's also why we practise every quarter,'' Mrs Hellwig said.
''The fire brigade has also been involved in coming and looking at procedures,'' she said.
Centre director Ben Kelly said the children were now ''cool'' and ''calm'' during fire evacuations. He said he was confident that the children would be ready to evacuate safely during a real fire.
Goodstart Garran childcare had a fire scare just last week, forcing an evacuation of 25 children to a nearby oval.
Goodstart Garran centre director Kirsty Mepham said she had rung triple-0 immediately, blew an emergency whistle, and then walked the children out of the centre.
Firefighters attended and established there was no risk of fire, allowing the staff and children back inside.
''We take the safety of our children and staff very seriously and it is our top priority that all the necessary measures are taken to guarantee this,'' she said.
''It gives me great confidence that all staff knew our evacuation procedures and were able to evacuate quickly and calmly, ensuring children did not become panicked.''