【Emergencies】

Contact Details

In most cases should there be an emergency, JET participants and their families or friends in their home countries would contact each other directly. However, if this is impossible, calls for a JET participant may come directly to a JET participant’s contracting organisation. Therefore, it is necessary for the JET participant to provide the contracting organisation with a contact telephone number if the JET participant is away from the office for a long period of time. Contracting organisations usually do this with their other staff too in case a work problem arises. JET participants will no doubt be treated in the same way. To safe guard against emergency situations, CLAIR strongly advises contracting organisations to have contact details for you. If you are surprised at their insistence that you provide a contact, please keep in mind that your contracting organisation is not trying to pry into your private time but rather to prepare for any unforeseen events. Supervisors should also provide JET participants with contact numbers where they can be reached during the evenings, weekends and holidays. JET participants should carry a list of emergency telephone numbers, such as the JET participant’s supervisor, head teacher, Prefectural Advisors, etc. with them at all times.

Registering with Home Country Embassy

JET participants should also register with the embassy of their home country in Japan. Contact between JET participants and their families may go through the embassy in case of emergencies. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains a list of embassies and consulates in Japan.

If an Emergency Situation Occurs

In the event that an emergency occurs, please call your contracting organisation supervisor immediately. If possible, you should also call CLAIR and your embassy directly depending on the nature of the situation. The following is a general outline of how JET Programme affiliated bodies will operate in response to an emergency.

Contacts

If an emergency occurs, the contracting organisation supervisor will call the Prefectural Advisor (host prefecture/designated city office) and the embassy of the JET participant’s home country if the JET participant so desires. In an event where the JET participantis unconscious or missing, the embassy will be contacted automatically. The first contact with the embassy will in this case be made by the contracting organisation. The host prefecture/designated city will then contact CLAIR. If an emergency occurs after work hours, the contracting organisation will contact a member of CLAIR at home and the after hours duty officer at the JET participant’s home country embassy. CLAIR will contact the three ministries. Should the JET participant be conscious, he/she will be encouraged to and assisted in contacting his/her family directly. If not, initial contact will be through the home country embassy.

Response

The contracting organisation will confirm the details of the situation, take any necessary emergency measures and, with the understanding of the JET participant, act on the JET participant’s behalf if they are unable to carry out necessary procedures themselves. Both the host prefecture/designated city and CLAIR will be kept informed of the situation and will offer their assistance and advice. The host prefecture/designated city will assist with eliciting assistance from other JET participants, the board of education or the prefecture if the contracting organisation so desires, and assist with the reception of and interpreting for the JET participant’s family members if they choose to come to Japan. CLAIR will keep in close contact with the contracting organisation and host prefecture/designated city, providing advice and assistance where there are any difficulties and when requested. CLAIR will assist in contacting authorities in Japan, liaising with home country embassies where necessary and will prepare any insurance information needed.