Let’s Make a Plan

Earlier this week one of the children began to wonder aloud about fire drills.  Another child carried it over to “what if there was a fire in your house?”  A third child responded with a classic, yet terrifying answer.  “I’d hide!” he said.

STOP. Whatever I was about to talk about in the class meeting was immediately tossed out the window.

Hiding from a fire is not the best course of action.  Instead, I shared our family plan for “what to do if you wake up at night and smell smoke or the fire alarm is going off.”  A few of the children told us of their emergency plans.  Many were unsure what to do if there was a fire in their home.

Below are the steps in our Forst Family Plan.

  • If there is smoke, crawl near the floor.
  • If your door is closed, carefully place your hand on the bottom of the door.
  • If your door  is:
    • Cold: Open the door carefully while staying near the floor and continue to next step.
    • Hot: Do NOT touch the door handle. Crawl directly to a window in your room. If it is smokey, stay near the floor. If you can breathe, stand up and wave at the window.  The firefighters will see you there. Do NOT hide.
  • Carefully crawl out your door and down the hall.
  • Keep crawling down the stairs.  Keep your head near the floor so you can breathe.
  • Go out either the back or front door, whichever is easier to get to.
  • Go directly to Mr. and Mrs. _____’s back yard. (Our neighbor across an alley)
  • Wait for your family. We will all meet here.  Do not leave to go look for anyone. Stay in this backyard.

Some of the steps above might connect with your family’s plan while other parts won’t.  Similarities don’t matter, having a plan does.  If you are interested in finding out more about creating a family emergency plan, check out Safe Kids Worldwide’s fire safety resources.