EMERGENCY EVACTUATIONS

EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS

You never know when an emergency can happen in your home. For example: tornados, sever storms, fire or flooding can happen suddenly. It is important that you think about what types of emergencies can occur in you’re a have a plan for evacuation. There are things to tke int consideration when making a plan.

• 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 your children?

• Are they mobile and can they carry out instructions?

• What floor are your children on at night?

• 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 keeping your family safe. 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 have an infant infants, it is important that you have a plan in place that allows you to evacuate them. The idea of taking some children out and going back for others is unacceptable and in the case of fire it is rarely successful. The safe evacuation of infants needs to be a priority as they cannot independently participate in the evacuation.

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. Make sure you do a head count immediately upon evacuating your house.

PRESCHOOLERS

Preschoolers can be prepared to participate in evacuations. In some families 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, or even pets etc.

PARENTS

If you are a two adult family, it is important to make a plan on who will take care of which child. Talk about what each one of you will do in a emergency, especially a fire so there is no confusion when an emergency occurs.

Head counts are important if you have multiple children of different ages 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 ensure 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, your partner and the children to meet. Evacuation and the preparation for evacuation needs to be an important part of your family’s routine. The intention is not to scare the children, or yourself but to help you all be prepared. That preparation could very well save a life.