Warwickshire County Council’s Emergency Planning Unit will be hosting a seminar on "Emergencies Involving Children" on Thursday 15 October 1998. The seminar, which is believed to be the largest of its type in the Country, will be held at the Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa and will be attended by over 250 delegates from across the Country.

Delegates come from a variety of backgrounds including Head Teachers from Warwickshire and nation-wide, emergency services officers, Social Services staff, Educational Psychologists, elected members and representatives from the voluntary sector. This is the third time this annual event has been run by Warwickshire Emergency Planning unit and the event has gained a national reputation.

The aim of this specialist seminar is to raise the awareness of those attending of the many and varied issues involved in responding to emergencies involving children.

Speakers include those with direct involvement in such high profile tragedies as Dunblane, the machete attack on children at St Luke’s School in Wolverhampton and the murder of a child from Cornwall whilst on a school trip to France. The seminar will also address the lessons to be learnt by local authorities and the emergency services from other emergencies such as bus crashes and arson attacks on schools.

The Manager of the Emergency Planning Unit, Mr Jeremy Lee said

"This seminar is an important annual event now for Warwickshire and we are proud that the reputation established in previous years means that we will be welcoming over 250 colleagues from across the Country. The seminar allows fellow professionals to share the often traumatic experience of those who have had to deal at first hand with events most of us will only ever see on the television. It is by openly and honestly sharing these experiences that we hope to enable delegates to be better prepared to respond to any emergency involving children in their own area."