"Women and children first" (or to a lesser extent, the Birkenhead Drill) is a code of conduct whereby the lives of women and children were to be saved first in a life-threatening situation, typically abandoning ship, when survival resources such as lifeboats were limited. The earliest authenticated use of the phrase is uncertain. A noted instance occurred during the 1852 evacuation of the Royal Navy troopship HMS Birkenhead.

Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_children_first (accessed 04Mar21)

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