July 2006 Newsletter
IMPORTANT EMERGENCY PROTOCOL FOR CHILDREN
This month’s newsletter pertains to two basic ‘Need to Know’ safety protocols that every parent absolutely must teach their children regarding home fire safety emergencies and 911 emergency calls. As soon as a child is able to verbally communicate clearly with us, they are also able to understand and take simple instruction. Without basic, simple and clear instructions including roll playing/rehearsals, we cannot assume that a child will be able to respond effectively in emergency situations. Federal laws require schools to have fire drills and all buildings to have both clearly accessible and marked exits. But how many of us have planned or discussed home exit emergency strategies, let alone even thought about what we would do if we had such an emergency? I frequently survey women at our safety programs to see how many have discussed emergency home evacuations with their family members and am amazed at how few actually have done so. So, let’s all put this on an immediate ‘TO DO’ list and create some family emergency plans today!
FIRE EMERGENCIES
Every child from at least age three (if not younger) is able to comprehend and perform basic tasks given simple and clear instructions, especially when rehearsed, performed or roll played as a game. First, draw a simple floor plan of your home and highlight all exits in RED showing all the possible escape exits, windows included. Next, bring your child to all of them so they have a physical experience of seeing them and being there next to them (even the obvious ones like front doors, back doors, etc.) Remember the famous Coach Bear Bryant from University of Alabama? He started every football season off with both new recruits and returning players showing them a football and started his training with, ‘This is a football.’ Always assume whatever information you are sharing with your children has never been heard before, even if it has. And remember that repetition is the mother of learning.
A child needs to know that if a door is blocked or cannot be exited, a window can be used to escape and if the window is locked, it can even be broken to create an exit. Be sure your child knows that in an emergency it's OK to crawl out a window to get to safety. Also, do not assume for example a child would know how to unlock a locked window without being shown. Roll play and rehearse by actually letting them unlock a locked window and crawl out to safety. Make up different emergency scenarios and have them perform home drills just as they do in school fire drills. Create alternative escape routes, plan B, plan C, etc. to get them thinking about what to do if plan A won't work. Have roll play situations where you now block an exit they used in a previous drill making them have to get creative and think about alternative exits to get to safety. They need to know how to exit their home in any emergency that may arise that requires a fast escape.
WHAT DEFINES AN EMERGENCY?
It’s very important that your child knows exactly what defines an emergency.
EMERGENCY: A serious situation, occurrence, unforeseen crisis or a combination of circumstances than happens unexpectedly, (usually involving danger) that requires or calls for immediate action.
I recommend that you also research from your local fire department or Google tips on the web on how to safely exit a burning house, how to deal with smoke, flames, etc.
EMERGENCY 911 CALLS
All children need to be taught how to call 911 on a variety of types of phones (even a rotary dial phone as their grandparents may still have one!). For very young children, it might be a good idea to draw an enlarged phone dial pad on a piece of paper to introduce them and teach them about the number locations. Use toy phones if they are available and let them practice on them. Make sure your child is familiar with and able to use all types of phones; wall, desk, cordless, rotary dial, cell, etc. It’s even a good idea to take the batteries out of your cordless and cell phones and unplug others to let them practice using the actual phones.
CALL INSTRUCTIONS
Your child needs to memorize and be able to clearly recite their Name, Street Address, and Home Phone Number. Knowing each parent's cell numbers or knowing where they are written down and easily retrievable in case of an emergency is important and valuable too. Instruct your child that when they are talking to the 911 Operator they need to: Stay Calm, Speak Slowly and Clearly to the 911 Operator. Make sure they know they must stay on the phone and that once a 911 Operator knows their address/location and the emergency, that they have help on the way. Also, as an alternative to dialing 911, make sure your child knows that they can simply dial 'O' for Operator and ask for a 911 emergency Operator.
REHEARSAL/ROLL PLAYING
Rehearse frequently so your child knows this important information by heart. Set up some potential emergency scenarios and let your child practice some 'What If'' scenarios (these might include things like; Grandma/pa has fallen, Dad/Mom Brother/ sister won’t wake up, Mom’s choking on something, etc.). Teaching children proper emergency responses about potentially life threatening situations does not create fear, it actually empowers them with knowledge. Instead of being immobilized by fear now, they now have a learned response that enables them to take action immediately.
GIVING OUT HOME ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER
Be sure it is clear to your child and that they understand it is OK to give out their home address and phone number to the 911 Operator. Since you have taught them that you should never give out this information to "Don't No's" (someone they don't know), it might be confusing unless you are absolutely clear about this important distinction. Giving out this information to a “Don’t No” is the exception only when it is a 911 operator or an authorized emergency person such as a uniformed policeman or fireman in an emergency situation.
Be sure to visit our products page and consider the purchase of a SAFE KIDZ KIT for each of your children. Our Kits contains all the necessary important information and tools every parent needs to help create both a safer home environment and safer kids. We just made the whole job of child safety a whole lot easier for you!
Mark Spencer, M.A., S.A.F.E.
© Copyright 2006 S.A.F.E. All rights reserved.
This month’s newsletter pertains to two basic ‘Need to Know’ safety protocols that every parent absolutely must teach their children regarding home fire safety emergencies and 911 emergency calls. As soon as a child is able to verbally communicate clearly with us, they are also able to understand and take simple instruction. Without basic, simple and clear instructions including roll playing/rehearsals, we cannot assume that a child will be able to respond effectively in emergency situations. Federal laws require schools to have fire drills and all buildings to have both clearly accessible and marked exits. But how many of us have planned or discussed home exit emergency strategies, let alone even thought about what we would do if we had such an emergency? I frequently survey women at our safety programs to see how many have discussed emergency home evacuations with their family members and am amazed at how few actually have done so. So, let’s all put this on an immediate ‘TO DO’ list and create some family emergency plans today!
FIRE EMERGENCIES
Every child from at least age three (if not younger) is able to comprehend and perform basic tasks given simple and clear instructions, especially when rehearsed, performed or roll played as a game. First, draw a simple floor plan of your home and highlight all exits in RED showing all the possible escape exits, windows included. Next, bring your child to all of them so they have a physical experience of seeing them and being there next to them (even the obvious ones like front doors, back doors, etc.) Remember the famous Coach Bear Bryant from University of Alabama? He started every football season off with both new recruits and returning players showing them a football and started his training with, ‘This is a football.’ Always assume whatever information you are sharing with your children has never been heard before, even if it has. And remember that repetition is the mother of learning.
A child needs to know that if a door is blocked or cannot be exited, a window can be used to escape and if the window is locked, it can even be broken to create an exit. Be sure your child knows that in an emergency it's OK to crawl out a window to get to safety. Also, do not assume for example a child would know how to unlock a locked window without being shown. Roll play and rehearse by actually letting them unlock a locked window and crawl out to safety. Make up different emergency scenarios and have them perform home drills just as they do in school fire drills. Create alternative escape routes, plan B, plan C, etc. to get them thinking about what to do if plan A won't work. Have roll play situations where you now block an exit they used in a previous drill making them have to get creative and think about alternative exits to get to safety. They need to know how to exit their home in any emergency that may arise that requires a fast escape.
WHAT DEFINES AN EMERGENCY?
It’s very important that your child knows exactly what defines an emergency.
EMERGENCY: A serious situation, occurrence, unforeseen crisis or a combination of circumstances than happens unexpectedly, (usually involving danger) that requires or calls for immediate action.
I recommend that you also research from your local fire department or Google tips on the web on how to safely exit a burning house, how to deal with smoke, flames, etc.
EMERGENCY 911 CALLS
All children need to be taught how to call 911 on a variety of types of phones (even a rotary dial phone as their grandparents may still have one!). For very young children, it might be a good idea to draw an enlarged phone dial pad on a piece of paper to introduce them and teach them about the number locations. Use toy phones if they are available and let them practice on them. Make sure your child is familiar with and able to use all types of phones; wall, desk, cordless, rotary dial, cell, etc. It’s even a good idea to take the batteries out of your cordless and cell phones and unplug others to let them practice using the actual phones.
CALL INSTRUCTIONS
Your child needs to memorize and be able to clearly recite their Name, Street Address, and Home Phone Number. Knowing each parent's cell numbers or knowing where they are written down and easily retrievable in case of an emergency is important and valuable too. Instruct your child that when they are talking to the 911 Operator they need to: Stay Calm, Speak Slowly and Clearly to the 911 Operator. Make sure they know they must stay on the phone and that once a 911 Operator knows their address/location and the emergency, that they have help on the way. Also, as an alternative to dialing 911, make sure your child knows that they can simply dial 'O' for Operator and ask for a 911 emergency Operator.
REHEARSAL/ROLL PLAYING
Rehearse frequently so your child knows this important information by heart. Set up some potential emergency scenarios and let your child practice some 'What If'' scenarios (these might include things like; Grandma/pa has fallen, Dad/Mom Brother/ sister won’t wake up, Mom’s choking on something, etc.). Teaching children proper emergency responses about potentially life threatening situations does not create fear, it actually empowers them with knowledge. Instead of being immobilized by fear now, they now have a learned response that enables them to take action immediately.
GIVING OUT HOME ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER
Be sure it is clear to your child and that they understand it is OK to give out their home address and phone number to the 911 Operator. Since you have taught them that you should never give out this information to "Don't No's" (someone they don't know), it might be confusing unless you are absolutely clear about this important distinction. Giving out this information to a “Don’t No” is the exception only when it is a 911 operator or an authorized emergency person such as a uniformed policeman or fireman in an emergency situation.
SUMMARY:
- Develop emergency home escape routes and practice them just like they do in school.
- Instruct your children on how to call 911 and how to give the operator the FOUR critical pieces of information the Operator needs: NAME, PHONE NUMBER, LOCATION/ADDRESS & PROBLEM/EMERGENCY.
- Make sure your child understands exactly what constitutes an emergency and that information never given out to "Don’t No’s" is OK only within the context of an emergency.
- Rehearse emergency procedures routinely with your children.
Be sure to visit our products page and consider the purchase of a SAFE KIDZ KIT for each of your children. Our Kits contains all the necessary important information and tools every parent needs to help create both a safer home environment and safer kids. We just made the whole job of child safety a whole lot easier for you!
Mark Spencer, M.A., S.A.F.E.
© Copyright 2006 S.A.F.E. All rights reserved.