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I think most parents teach their children not to play with matches or stick their hands in the fireplace, but I am referring to the following:
-If your children have bedrooms on a second story, do you have an emergency ladder? Have you shown them how to use it in case they need to climb out a window? If not, do they know how to get down?
-Do your children know where to locate a fire extinguisher, and how to use one? I think a young child should be fleeing, not fighting a fire, but a teenager can easily put out a small oven fire.
-Do your children know who to call in an emergency? 911 is standard for the US but it is not always the best phone number if you are using a cell phone. If I call 911 on my cell phone it automatically directs me to the regional California Highway Patrol. Obviously they can help but my city also has a direct emergency number.
I just did a fire safety refresher (I work on boats frequently so it's a big deal) and a lot of adults were lacking basic knowledge. Also, at one time my husband even tried to put water on an electric stove fire I want to know who teaches these safety skills to their children.
It's a very good reminder. Our elementary school makes the kids do a safety project each year which includes all the things you mentioned, plus checking batteries in smoke detectors, meet up locations, etc. It is a family project, and each family is asked to participate in a home fire drill too. My daughter's room is the only one that needs an escape ladder, and the first time we did the drill, the ladder connections didn't work, I was very relieved we had done a practice. I know most Girl and Boy Scout troops do a similar project.
We have talked about an escape plan. We have a ladder in our room. The kids were taught at school to throw toys out the window if they can't get out of their rooms, so the firefighters know there are kids up there. they know 911.
That's a very good idea. I've been thinking about it recently because there have been a rash of fires here in my city where kids have not gotten out. We've talked about it in context of what they learned in preschool, which was quite extensive, but not as it pertains to our house exactly.
What a great reminder, I'm going to do it this afternoon.
We have fire drills and safety drills at home. The kids practice going out the bedroom windows in the fire drill (our house is one story). My little one can't reach the window locks so we keep a stepstool in her room. The safety drill is different, if they wake up hearing glass breaking or loud banging noises, they're supposed to hide on their closet floors until one of us or a cop goes to get them. We started practicing that after somebody tried to break into an apartment we were living in. The last time somebody tried to break in, the kids didn't wake up, even when the police came, and I just let them sleep. The layout of our house is good for home defense.
I think most parents teach their children not to play with matches or stick their hands in the fireplace, but I am referring to the following:
-If your children have bedrooms on a second story, do you have an emergency ladder? Have you shown them how to use it in case they need to climb out a window? If not, do they know how to get down?
-Do your children know where to locate a fire extinguisher, and how to use one? I think a young child should be fleeing, not fighting a fire, but a teenager can easily put out a small oven fire.
-Do your children know who to call in an emergency? 911 is standard for the US but it is not always the best phone number if you are using a cell phone. If I call 911 on my cell phone it automatically directs me to the regional California Highway Patrol. Obviously they can help but my city also has a direct emergency number.
I just did a fire safety refresher (I work on boats frequently so it's a big deal) and a lot of adults were lacking basic knowledge. Also, at one time my husband even tried to put water on an electric stove fire I want to know who teaches these safety skills to their children.
I started fire safety with my son when he was 5. Now I include his cub scout knowledge and go further. He knows how to call 911, use the emergency ladder, make a rope ladder with his bed sheets (we live on the 2nd floor so they get him closer), use the extinguisher, check for heat, and how to get out of the building. He also knows stranger danger and I ask people he doesn't know to help test him from time to time.
I think most parents teach their children not to play with matches or stick their hands in the fireplace, but I am referring to the following:
-If your children have bedrooms on a second story, do you have an emergency ladder? Have you shown them how to use it in case they need to climb out a window? If not, do they know how to get down?
-Do your children know where to locate a fire extinguisher, and how to use one? I think a young child should be fleeing, not fighting a fire, but a teenager can easily put out a small oven fire.
-Do your children know who to call in an emergency? 911 is standard for the US but it is not always the best phone number if you are using a cell phone. If I call 911 on my cell phone it automatically directs me to the regional California Highway Patrol. Obviously they can help but my city also has a direct emergency number.
I just did a fire safety refresher (I work on boats frequently so it's a big deal) and a lot of adults were lacking basic knowledge. Also, at one time my husband even tried to put water on an electric stove fire I want to know who teaches these safety skills to their children.
Our town does a fire safety night every October. The firehouse is open, and the kids have different "stations" they have to visit and get things checked off on their list, and at the end they get a goodie bag with pencils and stuff in it. They have to demonstrate that they know how to call 9/11, they have to draw a floor plan of their house showing their escape route, they have to demonstrate "stop, drop and roll", and then half to crawl through a "smoky" hallway (dry ice) to show that they know that smoke goes up and you can't run through it. They also get a tour of the ambulance and a ride around town on the fire truck.
As a side note, three months after we did this when my daughter was in kindergarten, the house burned down. The escape route she would have taken was exactly where the fire was (it started below her bedroom, in the furnace). Fortunately, my daughter was sleeping over a friend's house that night because I was going out and my husband was always out. He came home to find the fire. My daughter's bedroom was gutted--her mattress was burned to the springs.
So, have an alternate route, folks. I also had the experience of getting out of the World Trade Center twice, and I know how important it is to know WHERE the stairwells/escape routes are WHEREVER YOU ARE. My kid is now 20, but I have trained her, I hope, to develop the habit of looking for the Exits wherever you go--whether it's the movies, in a hotel, in a school--wherever you are--know how you will get out if there is a fire or other emergency. It's not a TV show, where little puffs of smoke and isolated areas of flame exist that you can jump and leap around. ALL OF THE SPACE FILLS WITH SMOKE, and you have very little time to get out. I think this is one of the most misunderstood facts there are. Children and adults have to understand that your only hope is to crawl down low where there might be air--you will not survive running through the smoke.
I think most parents teach their children not to play with matches or stick their hands in the fireplace, but I am referring to the following:
-If your children have bedrooms on a second story, do you have an emergency ladder? Have you shown them how to use it in case they need to climb out a window? If not, do they know how to get down?
-Do your children know where to locate a fire extinguisher, and how to use one? I think a young child should be fleeing, not fighting a fire, but a teenager can easily put out a small oven fire.
-Do your children know who to call in an emergency? 911 is standard for the US but it is not always the best phone number if you are using a cell phone. If I call 911 on my cell phone it automatically directs me to the regional California Highway Patrol. Obviously they can help but my city also has a direct emergency number.
I just did a fire safety refresher (I work on boats frequently so it's a big deal) and a lot of adults were lacking basic knowledge. Also, at one time my husband even tried to put water on an electric stove fire I want to know who teaches these safety skills to their children.
This is a timely post for me. Prior to and during the running of the daycare, we did this often with our own kids and the daycare kids. The message was the same since it was the same house. But we have not only not reinforced the message in a while, I don't know that we have functioning fire extinguishers! BAD! We have a wood stove.
I had no idea that a cell phone might redirect a 911 call. I will look into that.
My kids definitely know about not using water on an electric fire. There have been an embarrassingly large number of times that I have lit the stove, oven and garbage can on fire. (Thus the lack of current fire extinguishers and the box of soda that is the size of my bread machine.)
Off to amazon to order some extinguishers and to the kids to talk.
I think most parents teach their children not to play with matches or stick their hands in the fireplace, but I am referring to the following:
-If your children have bedrooms on a second story, do you have an emergency ladder? Have you shown them how to use it in case they need to climb out a window? If not, do they know how to get down?
-Do your children know where to locate a fire extinguisher, and how to use one? I think a young child should be fleeing, not fighting a fire, but a teenager can easily put out a small oven fire.
-Do your children know who to call in an emergency? 911 is standard for the US but it is not always the best phone number if you are using a cell phone. If I call 911 on my cell phone it automatically directs me to the regional California Highway Patrol. Obviously they can help but my city also has a direct emergency number.
I just did a fire safety refresher (I work on boats frequently so it's a big deal) and a lot of adults were lacking basic knowledge. Also, at one time my husband even tried to put water on an electric stove fire I want to know who teaches these safety skills to their children.
Yup!!!
Good tip and reminder.
My DD will know to jump out her window into the bushes.
Home also has 4 very accessible exit doors that nothing blocks (fire safety standard = nothing to block exit doors) it.
She bakes... so she knows the importance of turning off the oven.
Just asked her... does she know how to put out a pan of fat on fire???
She says use baking soda & knows water may "boilover & splatter" causing burns... so her teacher did that homework!!! Yay!
DD knows 911, have her own cell as access.
She knows where our house fire extinguisher is at.
She learn "fire" when she is only 4 from her granddad... the importance of it.
Never to "play" with it.
I did show her how fast "fire" travels (an experiment with adult supervision) when a piece of paper / fabric gets on fire.
Knowledge is power... so she can save herself & others (only if need be).
I had no idea that a cell phone might redirect a 911 call. I will look into that.
I don't know how common it is but I know all 911 calls in my area go to a regional location. Our city website has two emergency numbers people can put into their cell phones to get a faster response because it goes directly to the city.
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I want to know who teaches these safety skills to their children.
