fire drills , how often?

[mama2three]

trying to be ready when the call comes - i started end sept and have done 1 fire drill so far , in november. is this enough? how often should we be doing them? and anything to record other than date , those present , and actions? thankyou x

[zillervalley]

Hi

I do mine first week of a new term, hope this helps
ziller

[mama2three]

so would all your children do one a term then? or some not there so once every couple of terms for them? sorry to be a pain x

[zillervalley]

i have part time children so if i do it the first week then they all have a chance, it means i am outside in the cold 3 days aweek ha



i do it termly as i was pulled the time before last inspection for not doing it often

[mama2three]

thanks ziller , looks like im doing them next week then!!

[suez]

what do you class as termly..3 months?

[carlen222]

do you even do it when its only babies that cant walk?? i know its important to know that we can get out and down 3 flights of stairs but there not really learning what to do when im carrying them? suppose its just good practice. do we need to time these though??

[suez]

apparentlt so, you need to show ofsted how you would get out in a emergency even with small babies that you'd need to carry.

[tulip0803]

I do it monthly as termly is a long time for littlies to remember. I vary days & times to catch all the children & use a different exit each time. The children love it.

I log it on a form which just says date, time, children present, exit used. My friend just logs it in her diary.

The fire drill is as much for us as for the children as we need to know we can get out with all the children & remember to take a phone too.

On an OFSTED insp many years ago the insp asked me about fire drills & a 5 year old answered with the entire fire drill for back door, front door & window exits:laughing: including address for fire brigade:thumbsup:

[loocyloo]

i was told that you have to ensure every child reguarly takes part in a fire drill. to this effect i do them monthly varying the day and time to ensure all children do them as often as i can!


also you should list date/time/children present!

xxx

[carlen222]

i must start this now then!!! i live up 3 flights of stairs so emergency escape is vitally important for me, i only have babies that cant walk the stairs, ill start this week doing it montly, thanks guys

[Blaze]

I do mine once a month (alternating between exits) & check the smoke alarm weekly:thumbsup:

[Blaze]

do you even do it when its only babies that cant walk?? i know its important to know that we can get out and down 3 flights of stairs but there not really learning what to do when im carrying them? suppose its just good practice. do we need to time these though??

Yes because it gets them used to the sound etc - that way if it happens for real they won't be distressed IYSWIM

[Carpet Monkeys]

I would also do them a few weeks after a new child has arrived! I do smoke alarm checks weekly and record them.

[newandlearning]

hi.. I've not done these for a few months :blush: ...

but ideally I think its good to do once a month.. I've a log in a booklet I made where I log checking fire alarm and doing the drill.. ... I annouce we are going to do a drill, we talk about whether we should put shoes on etc.. on that note I keep everyone's shoes in a basket so if we were going out front door we could just grab basket.. we practise evacuating and reaching our 'collection point'... once back in my home ...we all have a turn testing the alarm (the LOs really like doing this)....we watch Francis the Fire Fly on Utube one thing I want to do this term is take the LOs to a fire station and police station to introduce them to the bigger pic of people that help us.

I think its not just about getting the kids into a routine but yourself too.. recently I have learnt that we can never assume 'fires don't happen to me' or 'accidents don't happen to me' and as such I think its good team working development.... soz for going on and on and on...:blush:

I hope that helps.xx:)

ps. I think I got most of these ideas from our brilliant Sarah on a post from 6mths or so ago..:)

[Ripeberry]

I've done a couple of fire drills with my 16 month old mindee, but its to get him used to the noise and then I just pick him up and go out.
I mind on the ground floor and have 3 exits plus windows if needed so it takes less than 5 seconds to get out anyway.
If mindee is upstairs, then I've timed that it takes about 35 seconds as I've got to run upstairs, get him up without scaring him too much, get downstairs safely and out of the door.
Of course if the door was on fire, we would have to baricade ourselves into the bedroom with the phone and use damp towells under the door, open the window and shout for help (no good round here as no-one around), but hopefully passing traffic would see the smoke!

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I do mine once a month and when a new child starts (if they are old enough to understand)

[patevans]

I do mine once a month also!

[loocyloo]

my biggest problem is the neighbours! one side are fine ( she is my assistant ) but the other always comes running out thinking there is an emergency when she hears the alarm! but i don't want her to stop, 'cos what if one day it is for real? but i do worry that she will get so used to it that she doesn't come running out, IYSWIM.

[jelly15]

I do them once a month varying the day so have different children an log it. I will also do one when new child starts for them to get use to it by won't log that.

[janminder]

I was doing mine once a month and when a new child starts but was thinking of changing it to every 3 months, now I think maybe I should stick to monthly saves me changing my fire policy as well.