Trip to the Firestation
We recently went on a Moms Club outing to visit a fire station. It was really interesting!
They showed us their regular truck, rescue truck, and ladder truck, and they let the kids climb around inside the trucks. We got a tour of the whole station. Every one of us moms thought that our husbands would go nuts over their recreation room! Lines of big lazy-boy chairs, a big tv, and a stereo. It looked pretty cool, but no, I don't want a room like that in our house!
One of the firefighters put on all of his gear, including the breathing apparatus. They wanted the children to all see what a full-dressed firefighter looked like, so if they ever saw one in an emergency situation, they would not be as scared. He breathed through the mask, making that Darth Vadar sound. The kids were all a little hesitant (after all, that could all be quite a scary site to a child), but they all were willing to get within a couple feet of him. They told the children that if you are ever in a fire and you see someone like that, RUN to them! I thought it was a very good lesson.
The kids all got safety books and fire hats before we left. The Chief wanted a picture of all of us (including the firefighters) in front of the Christmas tree. Apparently they like to use those pictures in their newsletters. We took one also, so hopefully it will be appearing in our January newsletter.
One interesting tip for adults everywhere. If you have a kitchen fire, never throw water on it. The water acts as an accelerant, and you'll wind up with even more trouble. Instead, throw baking soda on the fire. He even suggested using an empty squirt ketchup bottle. Fill it up with baking soda and have it ready to squirt on any fire that may occur. He said it does as good of a job and makes less of a mess than a fire extinguisher on a small fire.
And there was a timely blurb in Parents Magazine after our trip to the firestation...
In discussing fire safety, the author talked about how many children will sleep right through a piercing smoke alarm, but will easily awake to the sound of their parents' voice. (Has this author ever tried to wake a child on a school morning?) There are new smoke detectors on the market that will not only alert with the traditional piercing alarm, but will also play a pre-recorded wake-up message from the parent.
Nothing wrong the the blurb so far.
The author goes on to state that if you do not have one of these new smoke alarms, that when your traditional alarm goes off, you should be sure to go wake your child prior to exiting the house to the pre-arranged meeting place.
Okay, I don't know about you. But if the smoke alarm in our house ever goes off, there is no way I am exiting the house before getting the kids!
Seriously, are there really parents out there who would just immediately exit the house and leave their children on their own to try to get out?
They showed us their regular truck, rescue truck, and ladder truck, and they let the kids climb around inside the trucks. We got a tour of the whole station. Every one of us moms thought that our husbands would go nuts over their recreation room! Lines of big lazy-boy chairs, a big tv, and a stereo. It looked pretty cool, but no, I don't want a room like that in our house!
One of the firefighters put on all of his gear, including the breathing apparatus. They wanted the children to all see what a full-dressed firefighter looked like, so if they ever saw one in an emergency situation, they would not be as scared. He breathed through the mask, making that Darth Vadar sound. The kids were all a little hesitant (after all, that could all be quite a scary site to a child), but they all were willing to get within a couple feet of him. They told the children that if you are ever in a fire and you see someone like that, RUN to them! I thought it was a very good lesson.
The kids all got safety books and fire hats before we left. The Chief wanted a picture of all of us (including the firefighters) in front of the Christmas tree. Apparently they like to use those pictures in their newsletters. We took one also, so hopefully it will be appearing in our January newsletter.
One interesting tip for adults everywhere. If you have a kitchen fire, never throw water on it. The water acts as an accelerant, and you'll wind up with even more trouble. Instead, throw baking soda on the fire. He even suggested using an empty squirt ketchup bottle. Fill it up with baking soda and have it ready to squirt on any fire that may occur. He said it does as good of a job and makes less of a mess than a fire extinguisher on a small fire.
And there was a timely blurb in Parents Magazine after our trip to the firestation...
In discussing fire safety, the author talked about how many children will sleep right through a piercing smoke alarm, but will easily awake to the sound of their parents' voice. (Has this author ever tried to wake a child on a school morning?) There are new smoke detectors on the market that will not only alert with the traditional piercing alarm, but will also play a pre-recorded wake-up message from the parent.
Nothing wrong the the blurb so far.
The author goes on to state that if you do not have one of these new smoke alarms, that when your traditional alarm goes off, you should be sure to go wake your child prior to exiting the house to the pre-arranged meeting place.
Okay, I don't know about you. But if the smoke alarm in our house ever goes off, there is no way I am exiting the house before getting the kids!
Seriously, are there really parents out there who would just immediately exit the house and leave their children on their own to try to get out?
posted by Susan | 6:09 AM
2 Comments:
Sad to say it's true. There are parents who will leave the kids to their own devices during a fire. I've also seen parents kill themselves to get the kids out safe.
Seems crazy to me! My first action would be to grab the kids! Call me crazy....
Loved the tip on the baking soda. Thanks.
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