Time for a Fire Drill Party!

“Children under the age of 5 are twice as likely as the rest of us to die in a fire. Each year, thousands of children are killed or injured in fires, and 40 percent of them are under age 5. “ U. S. Fire Administration

Wow! Memo to all Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, and Babysitters! Here’s an EXTREMELY COOL thing we can all do to help save the lives of our most treasured!

Throw a Party! Sometime soon, sit down with you child/children and go over the right things to do if they hear the fire monitor go off, or if they hear fire or smell smoke.

Specifically, teach them to:

• Get down and crawl on the floor to get to safety (the air is clearer and safer down there)
• Reach out to touch and feel any door before opening it. The door may be a barrier and protection between them and fire on the other side.
• Know two ways out of any room. (For example, door and window, or door and a wall panel with no plumbing in it)
• Get out of the house and go to the pre-planned “Meeting Spot” (oak tree, front gate, pink hydrangea bush, doesn’t matter as long as all agree and the spot is clear of any fire danger).
• Wait at the Meeting Spot until you arrive and can take them to safety.

Simple, isn’t it? Now, here’s the Party Part. Have a practice “Fire Drill” with them. Bake or buy cookies or cupcakes ahead of time, and make sure they know/see them. Tell them these are special, for after the “Fire Drill”. Of course they will ask when that is, and tell them it will be a surprise, but take the opportunity to review what they should do in a Fire Drill or a Fire.

Have the Fire Drill sometime in the next 24 hours. Make it simple and straightforward. Meet them rapidly at the Meeting Spot and praise them for their actions. Go inside and party, and let them talk about what they did in the Drill. If there is an improvement they can make, praise them for what they did right, and mention that next time they should [insert improvement here].

Why in the world should you have a Fire Drill Party at home? Simple, most small children do not know the right things to do in a home fire. This, and their dependence on caretaking adults, is why so many tragically die.

Why don’t we teach them the right things to do? Because we:

• Don’t think of it
• Don’t know the right things to do
• Don’t know how to teach them the right things to do
• Are afraid of “scaring them”, thinking they are too young to deal with emergency information

So here is the Good News! You are reading this, so you are now thinking of it. Here are the right things to do, and you can get more at www.usfaparents.gov . There are lots of ideas and activities for teaching your children, no matter what age, at that website. From emergency response experience, small children are not terrified when rehearsing emergency scenarios or training, because they have never experienced the reality. If anything, they take everything as a game, because it is NOT scary enough to them. This is a blessing, because they will learn and rehearse the drills, learning the information, and have it available for them in actual emergency situations. If adults do not communicate “fear” when teaching the right things to do, children do not generally become fearful, so they can simply learn the information.

If you have any ideas on how to teach child safety at home, please comment. Feel free to pass this article along to a friend!