EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS
As part of your childcare regulations, you are required to have a plan for emergency evacuations. Taking into consideration the age and number of children you care for, your plan must work for your program. In creating your plan here are some things to take into consideration:
• The location of your home. Are you on a main street where you can get help quickly, or do you live out in the country?
• Are you in a designated flood prone area?
• Does your neighborhood often experience power outages?
• What are the ages of the children in your care?
• What floor do you care for children on?
• Where is a safe place to go when you evacuate?
Being prepared and creating procedures which you and the children can follow in the event of an emergency are necessary in the operation of your business. Remember that any plan you create is only as good as your ability to carry it out. This means practice, practice, practice!
Even the youngest children can participate in evacuation, if they are prepared and have practiced. Let’s look at how to prepare with different age groups of children.
INFANTS
Special consideration should be given to infants. If you are providing care for multiple infants, it is important that you have a plan in place that allows you to evacuate all your infants at the same time. The idea of taking some children out and going back for others is unacceptable and in the case of fire it is rarely successful. If you employ an assistant or two there needs to be designated roles for each individual. The safe evacuation of infants needs to be a priority as they cannot independently participate in the evacuation. A crib on coasters can be used to evacuate multiple infants. Make sure the position of your evacuation device is appropriate for immediate evacuation. Do not store it in a place, where you cannot easily retrieve it.
TODDLERS
With sufficient practice toddlers can be prepared for evacuation. It is important to remember, however, that small children who have not been given the opportunity to prepared for an emergency have a tendency to run and hide. Head counts are very important when evacuating toddlers. Make sure you know exactly how many children are present and make sure that once you have left your environment you are conducting a head count immediately.
PRESCHOOLERS
Preschoolers can be prepared to participate in evacuations. In some programs older children are assigned to a younger child to join hands and leave the building. Practice makes the difference in a child’s ability to evacuate safely. Make sure that everyone, especially your preschooler, understand that under no circumstance does anyone stop to get personal belongings, including jackets, shoes, backpacks, etc.
PROVIDER AND ASSISTANTS
Consider where you store your emergency contact information. Some providrs keep a storage box in their car with required information. If you do not currently do this, make sure you have immediate access to contact information and you are able to easily take it with you when you evacuate. If you do store emergency contact information in your car, put it in file or box with combination lock for confidentiality purposes.
Head counts are important and taking your attendance sheet when you evacuate can help ensure that all children are accounted for. Especially if you have multiple children who come different day and different hours. If there is an occasion when you or the children are injured during the emergency, make sure that the first aid kit is mobile and can be easily removed. Always have a pre-designated safe place and insure that everyone knows where it is.
Give special thought to your safe place. Think about all the circumstances that might arise and then determine where the safest place would be for you and the children to meet. Evacuation and the preparation for evacuation needs to be an important part of your program. The intention is not to scare the children, or yourself but to help you all be prepared. Well practiced evacuation and preparation could very well save a life.