balloon
20-03-2010, 06:33 PM
I thought I'd share what we do for fire practice on here in case it's of any use to others...
Because the whole press the red button on the smoke alarm was getting a bit stale (plus I knew when I was going to do it!) I now have an arrangement with the other CMs in my area that we randomly phone each other and say "You have a fire in your (insert room) get out now!!" This is a far better marker of how well we're doing as I never know when it's going to happen and every phone call is obviously not a fire practice so we're not ready for it every time the phone rings. Plus we sometimes deliberately block each other's fire exits by having the fire right there making the minder think on her feet and the children ok with a quick change of plan.
When I get the phone call I yell out "FIRE" and the practice begins. So far we have it down to 51 seconds with everybody out and everything as it should be. I even remembered the dog!
To ensure the kiddies also go out if the smoke alarm goes off I also practice with that. It's amazing how quickly they can all get out of the house when I'm burning the toast!!
Because the whole press the red button on the smoke alarm was getting a bit stale (plus I knew when I was going to do it!) I now have an arrangement with the other CMs in my area that we randomly phone each other and say "You have a fire in your (insert room) get out now!!" This is a far better marker of how well we're doing as I never know when it's going to happen and every phone call is obviously not a fire practice so we're not ready for it every time the phone rings. Plus we sometimes deliberately block each other's fire exits by having the fire right there making the minder think on her feet and the children ok with a quick change of plan.
When I get the phone call I yell out "FIRE" and the practice begins. So far we have it down to 51 seconds with everybody out and everything as it should be. I even remembered the dog!
To ensure the kiddies also go out if the smoke alarm goes off I also practice with that. It's amazing how quickly they can all get out of the house when I'm burning the toast!!