Fire Safety Month: Visiting the Fire Hall

Today we had a chance to visit the Davison Fire Station.  It was a fun learning experience for the students.  I really like that they had a chance to see the firefighter in all of their gear.  They were able to see and hear what it sounded like to experience a fireman if they met one in an actual emergency.  The firefighters were great and they gave the students many good tips about fire safety.  They do a lot of encouraging the kids to talk to their parents.  Here is a brief list of things the fireman encouraged families to talk about.

• Review with kids a fire safety plan.  Firefighters ask that parents review with kids where the nearest exit is in the house.  Practice the route that would be the most efficient way out of the house.  They talked about how to check the door if the smoke and fire was blocking their exit.  They asked kids who were trapped in their room to stay near the walls and if possible get to the window and open/break it if they were in danger.  They were instructed to stay low and out of the smoke if they were trapped in a room.
• Come up with a meeting place for the family.  The firefighters would like that meeting place to be a permanent fixture that is in the front of the house like a mailbox, tree, or rock that is clear of the house.  They asked that it be in the front for communication purposes if they get called to the house.
• We reviewed how to call 911.  Some of the kids did not know their addresses.  This is something that should be practiced as children in second grade should know their address and a contact phone number in case of emergency.  Keep practicing until they would know it in an emergency.
• They hit on smoke detectors quite a bit.  I know these can be annoying to some, but they are important in an emergency situation.  They recommended one in each bedroom along with the hallways outside of them.  They also recommend them in areas like the kitchen and near the furnace.  They recommended that batteries be changed once a year.  I know the fireman last year said that in his family everyone has a smoke detector and everyone gets batteries for their birthday so they can change their smoke detector once a year.  Family ones can be changed at Christmas.  I am sure children will be asking about them because the firefighters made that an important part of their talk.

This is always a great reminder of fire safety tips during the year.  I know it is helpful for me to review these tips each year.  It is not something that you want to worry your children about, but it would be worse if we never had these talks and they weren't prepared for what they should do.  The students had a lot of prior knowledge and were very respectful.  It shows that many already have these safety measures at home.  If you don't, it might be a great chance to review them before the weather turns on us.