Fire Drills??

[bellacat]

I feel really silly asking this question, but how do you guys do your fire drills. I always check my smoke alarms regularly and i have a fire drill book (yet to be filled in :blush: ). My question is that all my children take their shoes off when they enter the house. Obviously in a real fire they would leave the house barefooted and without coats, it is now cold and usually wet, so i can't possibly make them walk across the wet grass in my garden for just a drill. Please help, what do i do?

[christine e]

You could do a fire practice just as you come in one day (before they take shoes off) but you do really need to do one when they have their shoes off so that you can make sure that they don't stop and put them on. I know it is hare but they do need to practice in situations that could arise, just keep being outside in the cold to a minimum

Cx

[Bear23]

My mindees love our fire drills, they do ( well the older ones) understand the importance but they still enjoy them, I blow a whistle at various times in the month and they all run out the nearest exit, making sure the babies are ok. We are often found in the front garden with no shoes on.

[Zoomie]

i had a fire drill this week as my nvq assessor was here.

we usually leave the house without shoes or coat, but in conversation with the assessor later i felt that cos it is cold now we really should stop for our coats and shoes. she agreed that picking them up on our way out was a suitable, but to put them on only when we are safely away from the house.

all our coats / shoes are kept by the front door anyway.

i recall reading a newspaper article years ago, about a suprmarket that did a drill. all the staff stood outside in just their tops. A oven / fryer had been left on when they had evacuated and it was no longer safe for them to return. Firemen only gave them permission to re-enter over an hour later and many of the staff were frozen to the bone.

[miffy]

You should try and practice what you would do if it was a real emergency and that's get out as quickly and safely as possible.

You could ask parents to send spare socks one week as you're planning a fire practice or have a few spare pairs yourself for the children to put on. I find the kids love the novelty of it all and don't mind wet feet.

Miffy xx

[bellacat]

Thanks everyone so much, you have been a great help. I agree that we should do a realistic fire drill so asking mums for spare socks is a brilliant suggestion. It's half term next week so i will do my first proper fire drill then. Thanks again everyone and three cheers for childminding forum :clapping:

[janminder]

Normally do mine once a month, had wet feet one day did'nt realise it had rained till the first one out screeched as their feet got wet but they carried on.

[Polly2]

This reminded me of a fire drill we had whilst on holiday in Center parcs. There was an actual fire in the pool changing rooms and we were all in the pool.

We all had to evacuate outside the building in our costumes IN JANUARY!! It was FREEZING!! :eek:

I suppose the point is when its a real fire it has to be done!

[buzzy bee]

sorry for hijacking but can i ask another related question? when people say you do one once a month, do you just do 1, and then make sure kids who weren't involved in that one are involved in the next months one? or do you do a few each month to make sure all kids are involved?!

[Mollymop]

sorry for hijacking but can i ask another related question? when people say you do one once a month, do you just do 1, and then make sure kids who weren't involved in that one are involved in the next months one? or do you do a few each month to make sure all kids are involved?!

I practise one every month when I have all the children present.

We also practise when it's dry so we don't get wet socks!;)

[karensmart4]

We do a fire drill once a month on different days and at different times, sometimes we use the front door but usually use the back door.

I must admit (and perhaps I shouldn't :blush: ) that one day I had planned on doing a drill but 2 babies were asleep, it was raining and the children were all happily engrossed in what they were doing so I put it off til the next day :panic:

[snufflepuff]

This has reminded me to do a drill next Monday....it will be the first time every mindee is here for it (happened once in the summer but we we're out all day so didn't do a drill)
I haven't done one in the rain yet, it's been very cold but not wet. Will ask parents for spare socks if rain is forecast next Monday, hehe!

[IndigoMoon]

We keep coats and shoes by the front door so could pick them up if we went out that way. But our escape route is via the back door so I asked parents to provide rubber soled slippers for the children so they didn't get wet feet

[The Juggler]

we go out barefoot in fire practices, but I have concrete out front and directly outside the back door.

[teacake2]

The little ones here go out even if they haven't anything on their feet and it is wet as we wouldn't have time to stop and put things on in a real emergency, but if we are doing our escape route out of the front door then I grap their shoes as I keep them near that door.
I have to keep adapting how we do ours because of the child I look after with disabilities, his mobility is changing all the time and as I only have him usually in the holidays now there can be a significant change we have to take into consideration e.g. how far he can walk on his own now, is there somewhere he can hold onto while I make sure the others are together, reminding him not to try and go off anywhere without me, it can be quite a traumatic time sometimes just when we are practicing.:eek: :eek:
Teacake2

[sweets]

i have to admit i havn't done one for months :blush:

My mindees are all just 2 and under, one has special needs and is sensitive to loud noises so im sorry but im not putting them through a fire drill that they wont understand anyway!

My house is tiny, i terrace with through lounge diner, patio doors and front and back doors, so obviously if theres a fire i will scoop the children up and go through the nearest door.

[buildingblocks]

I read once (think it was probably on here) that one CM would get her friend to ring the house phone and say fire and they would have their fire drill there and then thinking about doing this as I have to wait until hubby is here to operate my alarms as I have bad ears and the alarms set of the tinnitus/Menieres for the rest of the day

[amirose]

I had a mini cooking fire last week and truly realised just how important it is that we practice this!!!

SHOES? I didn't have time to even stop and think about shoes all I wanted to do was evacuate the kids as fast as possible, shoes didn't even enter my head :D

[charlie potato]

I realised the importance of fire drills when my 8 yr old mindee said if there was a fire and they were in my boys room then he'd just smash the window with a chair and jump out! xx:panic:

[manjay]

We do fire drills in all weathers and through different exits. I would never stop for shoes and coats. I have it in my action plan that if we were to exit via the front we would shelter in a neighbours to keep warm and if we had to go out the back (large garden but no exit) I have a bag of blankets in the summer house to keep us warm. I never have all my children here at the same time so I will do 2/3 a month to make sure everyone has had a go.

[bellacat]

Thanks again everyone for your comments. It has clarified everything for me. We did our first proper fire drill this week, during half term. I was really proud of them all they just dropped what they were doing, that included the older ones playing on the x box, and made for the emergency exit. It only took about 20 seconds to get them all out, no shoes or coats. They thought it was great fun. Thanks again everyone.:thumbsup: