Things You'll Need:
- Carbon Monoxide Detector
- Smoke Detectors
- Smoke Detectors
- Art Papers
- Colored Pens
- Fire Extinguishers
- Fire Extinguishers
- Colored pens
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Step 1
Explain to your child what you're going to teach him. Tell him it's similar to fire drills in school, and that it's just as important to have fire drills at home.
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Step 2
Draw a simple diagram of your house and go over it carefully with your child.
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Step 3
Find two escape routes for every room. Take the child to each room and ask him how he would escape if there were a fire.
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Step 4
Practice opening windows, taking off screens and using ladders (if on a second story). Children must be able to open windows and window locks and use collapsible ladders if on a second story.
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Step 5
Make sure there are no security bars on bedroom windows - or if there are, that they can be opened and closed easily. You may even want to remove bars from your child's room.
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Step 6
Sleep with bedroom doors closed, and teach your child that if the smoke detector goes off, he should feel the door with the back of his hand before opening it.
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Step 7
Teach your child to place the back of his hand on the door to check for heat, starting at the bottom and working up. Then he should place the back of his hand on the doorknob; if there's any heat outside the door, he should be able to feel it.
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Step 8
Teach your child to crack open the door - if he doesn't feel heat, he should stay low and check for smoke. If smoke is present, he should use the other way out.
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Step 9
Choose a place for family members to reconvene outside.
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Step 10
Tell your child that once he has escaped, he must not go back in the house for any reason until firefighters have deemed the house safe for re-entry.










Comments
bobavsec said
on 5/9/2008 This is really good information that every family should know and practice. Very technically correct from start to finish. (I'm a retired firefighter so I know good stuff when I see it!)