14 Fire Safety Tips you need to teach your Kids
Children are fast learners than us. No doubt they can adopt things way early than we does. Once kids reach at a certain age they view the world with curiosity and that is the perfect time to feed them with information that can help them, people around them & the society they live in. Yes, I am talking about teaching kids about fire safety & 911.
We might think that for kids this is not important at an early age, but sorry to disappoint, when the time comes your kids needs to be aware of what to do?
No matter you are a parent, teacher or a caretaker you need to gather kids around you & teach them some basics on how to protect themselves in case of emergency fire. Kids also need to be aware of how to use fire equipment service which in most cases can save a lot of legwork for firemen.
Coming back to the topic here are some tips that you can inform your kids with:
- Where is the Escape route?
Teach the kids about basics of an escape route. It will be a great advantage if the kids know how to find the escape route & direct other kids towards it. Teach the kids possible ways to escape from a room and move towards the escape route.
- Teach kids to use windows as tools
Make sure you inform kids how to check the windows. Windows are a source of oxygen for kids. Teach the kids how to make windows assessable in case of emergency.
- Escape ladders on Second Floor
Normally escape ladders are on the second floor. Educate your kids on how to use an escape ladder and how they can teach everyone around them to do the same.
- Making their way to Safe location
Good thing about kids is that they do not panic like adults. If you teach them how to act in case of emergency, they usually turn out to take better decisions than most adults. A good way to teach kids is to teach them in play. Blindfold the kids and ask them to find their way out. This is the most effective method which give instant results, and kids get trained to walk out of any emergency situation.
- Rhyming is one of the quickest way to teach them
Best way to teach the kids is to teach them with rhyme. Take the steps necessary for basics of fire safety and turn that into a poem. Kids now only have to remember the poem and in this way they will carry out all the necessary steps to prevent from fire.
- Train the kids with Smoke Detectors
Educating kids regarding the home detectors can be a great start. The way smoke detectors operate and alarms work is a necessary learning for every child.
- Run outside and stay outside
Normally kids are smart with this. But incase teach the kids to stay out once they are out of the house. Normally kids tend to follow the steps of their parents. The way you act in emergency will affect the behavior of kids. Teach your kids to run out of the building in case of emergency and never look back.
- Teach kids to Pause, Drip, and Roll
This is one of the most important steps you can teach your kids. In an emergency to pause whatever they are doing, drip and roll to a safe place. First show the kids how to do it, and then ask them to try it with variations.
- Keep kids away from matches
Off course this is basic but sometimes kids do things that can be very dangerous. If there is a match box or a lighter ask the kids to stay away from it at all costs.
- Go to the fire safety plan
Do drills in which you can teach your kids to follow certain steps in case of emergency. There should be a guideline, a to-do list to follow. And pick a safe place in your home and ask the kids to go there if something happens.
- Crawl when necessary
Teach the kids to crawl in case of extreme fire. Get on the ground and stay away from smoke wherever possible.
- Don’t panic, act!
If the clothes get fire teach your kids not to panic and go for the above pause, drip and roll technique to prevent further damage to the body.
- Never go inside a building
Once the kids are out teach them not to go inside for anything. Wait for others to come but do not try to go inside to help them.
- Call 911
This is one of the basic and first things kids needs to learn. Teach them to call 911 and fire brigade units. Or ask a neighbor or a relative to do so.
The above tips are quite effective when done right. Kids are more sensitive than adults. But, if you rehearse with them what to do in case of emergency if would be easy for them to follow.