Earnest Hemingway once said that when you get a child, the world gets a hostage. Suddenly, you’re no longer just in charge of your safety.
Imagine a scenario where you’re walking down the street, and someone steps in front of you with a knife. Every respectable self-defense instructor would tell you to run… unless you’re not alone, especially if you’re with your child.
In the case of a house fire, even many adults don’t know what to do. However, a child will be even more confused. The majority of the safest activities in the case of a fire are not intuitive.
You may also assume that you’ll be there to guide them, but what if you’re not at home? What if you’re already incapacitated by inhaling too much smoke or something else? In order not to worry about some of these questions, you need to
1. What not to do?
Before you teach them the right course of action, you should talk about what not to do in the event of a fire. Reacting properly is one thing, but making matters worse is something else entirely.
First, you need to teach them not to panic. Tell them that these things happen and that there’s no reason to worry as long as they get to safety as soon as they hear. The worst thing they could do in this situation is waste time gathering belongings. Just tell them to go straight out.
Second, tell them to avoid using elevators if they’re living in an apartment building. While stairs are tiresome and take longer, they’re much safer. This is important to stress out, especially for kids who have no habit of using stairs very often.
Finally, they shouldn’t reenter the building until they’re given clearance.
2. Get down low and GO, GO, GO!
One thing that many people don’t understand about fire is that smoke is a much larger problem. If smoke gets into your lungs, you’ll pass out immediately. For fire, it takes time to get to you and cause damage, but smoke acts instantaneously and may incapacitate you (allowing the fire to creep up). Not all fires spread quickly, but it makes no difference if you’re incapacitated.
They don’t need to understand the specifics; just tell them to duck low. This will reduce their exposure to smoke and increase their visibility. You see, the smoke goes up, leaving the lower layer of the room pretty clear.
Another reason why staying low is important is because it reduces heat exposure. Heat is also rising, so staying low may provide you higher comfort (and self-control) until you’re safe.
3. Stop, drop, and roll
Rolling on the ground extinguishes the flames by depriving it of oxygen. This is the simplest and most effective action if your clothes catch fire. First of all, it doesn’t rely on any external equipment. You are always in a position to stop, drop, and roll.
Most importantly, you’re stopping them from panicking and disoriented by telling them exactly what to do. You see, it’s the panic that makes every situation worse and, from a child’s perspective, no matter how scary, if something is rehearsed (by the rules), it’s not as scary.
4. Don’t hide; go outside!
It’s a kid’s instinct to try and hide from danger. Hiding inside a burning house can be incredibly dangerous. It’s intuitive but literally the worst thing they can do. This is why it’s one of the first things you must teach them about house fires.
As we’ve already said, taking the simplest route outside is the only way to keep them safe. No time to grab your belongings; just head straight out and don’t look back.
This might seem counterintuitive, but you may have to scare them. Tell them what could happen if they decide to hide and explain that there’s no hiding from a house fire. If it spreads too far, it will consume all in its path.
5. Which numbers to call?
Kids today always have phones in their hands. This means that when they see fire, they’ll likely already have it on them, which is why, when they are outside (in the clear), they’ll have the means to contact an emergency service.
The number varies from country to country, but they should first call the fire department. They need to know the number (even if it is saved on their phone). They also need to know their home address when the dispatch asks them.
They must call the fire department before they call their parents. Sure, calling their parents is important, but they can do it seconds after they tell the fire department about this. This minute (or a few minutes) can make a huge difference in many scenarios.
Of course, if parents work from home, this probably won’t be necessary.
6. Fire detectors
You need to explain to your kids how fire detectors work so that they’re not confused when the alarm goes off.
Now, explain this to them in the simplest terms possible. Tell them that this device has the superpower of detecting heat and smoke. Tell them its job is to keep them safe by letting them know when there’s fire and that it will beep loudly to get their attention.
So, when the fire alarm goes off, nothing scary is happening; it’s just this incredible device telling them they should get to safety. Tell them that these detectors are reliable and can notice fire early, so if they do beep, there’s time to go to safety, but they must head out immediately.
Wrap up
Kids learn the best through play, so show them everything instead of overburdening them with rules. Most importantly, you must repeatedly show them this to ensure they remember. Otherwise, they might not apply it right when it matters.
The key thing to understand is that these survival skills will help them regardless of age. Even as adults, they will have to know what to do during a fire. Teach them as soon as possible.
