Fire Drill!!
The kids’ had a fire drill at school last week. They learned to stay with their class and go outside, across the street to the police station. But I was thinking that since we’ve moved we haven’t even THOUGHT about what we would do in the case of a fire. I don’t even think we had a real plan as to what to do if we had a fire at our old house either though.
The positive about our current living arrangement is that it is very small and has three main exits. No matter where we are, if a fire starts we will be able to get out safely. But maybe we should practice.
On the way home from school that day I talked to the kids about their fire drill. Our daughter kept saying the alarms were loud. Have we even checked the batteries in the smoke alarms in our apartment? I talked to both of them about smoke and what to do and to NEVER EVER hide. Firemen are friends and even if they look odd in their uniforms the kids should always go to them because they are there to save them. it makes me worried because the one time we saw a fire truck up close our son was scared of it (unusual for him because he loves to point them out on the road!)
We need to get a plan together as to who is getting the kids. Who will grab our cash! Just kidding we have fire proof safes that everything valuable (copies of photos disks) are stashed in so we should only be concerned about our babies. But where do we go?We happen to live near a school with a huge field, so we could go there. OR better yet, Brian’s best friend lives right across that field and I’m sure they would be happy to let me and the kids hang out while the guys go watch the house burn.
Now that I have a quasi plan on what to do in case of a fire we have a few things we still need to finish:
1. Check batteries in the smoke detectors. 2. Talk to the kids about fire safety. 3. Expose the kids to firemen in uniform and reinforce the fact they are our friends. 4. Have a practice fire drill. 5. Teach the kids to stop, drop, and roll. 6. Reinforce that the best place to be in a fire is OUTSIDE, not hiding in the closet. spaceWhat suggestions do you have to help teach our children about fire safety in our home?
Plan a Home Fire Drill on About.com
Stopping a Fire Before it Starts on Safety At Home
Fire Safety on Kids Health
I think it is great reinforcement using the fire drill at school to build on your planning of home fire safety. It also gives you the opportunity to see what your kids know and areas where you could make improvements.
One example you stated was your son had problems with a Fire truck up close. It would be an opportunity to make more of an effort when there are parades in town. There are always fire trucks blaring the sirens and giving out candy, so that would be a way to familiarize the kids with that aspect.
Also (depending on the small town and Fire Station) certain holidays are great opportunities to get the kids into activities. There is generally two safety days at the stations, Halloween treats, Christmas Santa House type thing, Independence Day Parade, Homecoming Parade, and other activities in the community that would offer great opportunities for the kids to see the big trucks, ambulances, fire fighters, and police officers in a controlled environment. This way the kids would not be frightened if/when the necessity is there.
I am definitely going to look into more times when our local Fire Station hosts open houses. Since we just moved, I’m not sure what they offer yet. But thank you for the suggestion!
Did you check out what your town has to offer with the fire safety?