The Shelter Site That Cannot Take Everyone
A school is being used as a collective shelter after an earthquake. It has 14 classrooms, each about 50 m², and a courtyard. Current occupancy is 640 people, including 90 children under 5, 40 older people, and 12 people with mobility impairments. There are 6 latrine cubicles (3 male, 3 female) and one water point yielding an estimated 1,200 litres per day. The building's structural assessment is 'usable with restrictions - avoid the second floor.' A second aftershock of magnitude 5.1 occurred overnight; no new damage is visible but cracks in corridor walls appear wider. Two families have arrived with a generator and are running it inside a classroom overnight.
1. Identify the most serious WASH and safety failures and rank them.
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Rank by immediacy of harm, not by how visible the problem is:
- Carbon monoxide risk from the indoor generator - a generator running inside an occupied classroom is an acute, potentially fatal hazard. This is the top priority: shut it down or relocate it outdoors with clearance from openings, and ventilate. This is a life-safety issue that outranks WASH.
- Structural uncertainty after the aftershock - wider corridor cracks mean the 'usable with restrictions' assessment is now stale. Restrict access to the corridor and second floor, request re-assessment, and prepare an evacuation route and assembly point.
- Latrine ratio - 6 cubicles for 640 people is far below Sphere-style guidance (~1 per 20 people shared, ~1 per 50 in some settings, with sex-separated and accessible provision). This drives disease risk and protection risk (women and girls avoiding use at night).
- Water quantity - 1,200 L/day for 640 people is under 2 L/person/day, below basic survival and hygiene needs. Prioritise drinking water and identify a second supply.
- Accessibility and protection - 12 people with mobility impairments and 90 under-fives need accessible latrines and safe routes; crowding in classrooms raises protection risks.
Model answer should show the candidate not starting with latrines just because they are the most obviously 'WASH' item.
2. How should the shelter manager handle the generator families without provoking conflict?
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This is a protection and community-engagement judgement.
- Act immediately on the acute hazard: the manager has a duty of care to all 640 occupants; CO can kill. Stop the generator now, open doors/windows, and check for symptoms (headache, dizziness, nausea) in nearby occupants.
- Explain, don't just enforce: tell the families why - CO is invisible and odourless and has already put their neighbours at risk.
- Offer a workable alternative: relocate the generator outdoors, away from windows and air intakes, with a clear cable route and a designated operator; or negotiate shared charging hours.
- Use community structures: involve the shelter committee and, where present, women's and disability representatives so the rule is owned by the community rather than imposed.
- Record the decision and any incident in the shelter log.
The exam point: safety rules that are explained and co-designed are more durable than rules that are merely announced.