# How should I train school kids on emergency preparedness?



## iprepare143 (Dec 11, 2010)

I work for an elementary school and am responsible for care and safety of school children being a fire warden as well. We are planning to start a one-week long training on the subject of emergency training at my school, the basic target audience being the young children. I already have some thoughts and ideas to prepare the courseware to be taught during such training, but would definitely like to see what others would suggest about it. 

In my view, illustration of various emergency and safety kits along with their usage and description of each of their component is something the children can easily visualize and remember. Also, I think of teaching them about various ways of surviving a school emergency, conducting fire drills, and conducting other activities that children can learn collectively and in a fun way. I would like to know your thoughts about deciding what emergency kits or safety kits I should include for my illustrations, and where to limit the scope of this emergency preparedness training.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

disaster drills and education are good, I would be wary of overwhelming them with too much tho... one good thing about high unemployment is that maybe you can have a "parents' day (night)" & have higher than normal attendance for it, educate the parents & hopefully they will help with the children

fire is a risk anywhere, are there ever tornadoes in your area? what about floods or mudslides/avalanches?

telling kids to carry a snack & a water bottle in their bookbags/backpacks might seem like a good idea at first, but kids attention spans & impulse control are still developing so it might do more harm than good in day-to-day classroom life, and other things like pocketknives  are just too KEWL to not want play with or show off, and in this day & age that could get a kid suspended :nuts:


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I would probably start-off with a list of "normal, everyday supplies" that the kids should have with them at all times. You don't say what the ages are that you are trying to work with (grade one or grade six or everything inbetween), so my suggestion would be to make GHB's with the kids that are specific to their ages.

The GHB should be something that is easy to carry. A child-sized fanny-pack could be a good choice. Each kit should include a laminated name-tag with the parent's names, home address and several forms of contact (phone, cell, email, etc) as well as having a secondary emergency-contact list (aunt, uncle, grandparent, etc). The next thing that should be in the pack would be $5 worth of coins for pay-phone or other such similar use. Another item could be a juice-box and some kind of high-energy snack-food. Finally, a child-sized rain-poncho could be the last thing in the pack. The whole package-deal should be *under* 1 1/2lbs so that it would be something that is easily carried.

For the children closer to grade-one, maybe just the laminated-card that can be placed into their re-usable lunch bag (box) that they carry proudly daily to and from the school.

As far as what to teach about emergency prep - the first thing that I would teach is to look for a trustworthy person! A safe person could be the greeter at Walmart or someone wearing a uniform that the children can recognize easily. Bring in a local fireman, a local policeman and a local EMT and have them talk to the children while wearing their local uniforms. Fire-drills, tornado-drills, flood-drills, water-safety, winter-safety should all be taught and reinforced through-out the whole school year, every school year. Once every four-weeks have a season-specific drill (winter-drill in winter, tornado-drill in late-spring) ... and ... make the drills fun and memorable!


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Our schools use "lock-down" drills in the case of intruder type emergencies, here the students are taught to be silent and hunker down in place if they are in the washroom or outside of the classroom. 
A disciplined quiet reaction is vital in this type or situation instead of running around screaming , vital in any emergency


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## PamsPride (Dec 21, 2010)

Can you offer extra credit or make it a homework assignment for them to practice at home with their families what they would do in the case of emergency. 
Putting a laminated card in their book bags with their name, age, address, contact info, and allergies. If they put money in their bag they will just spend it for non emergencies. Do pay phones even exist anymore?

We had a fire drill at church and I was a helper in the 3-5 yo class. We explained to the children what was going to happen and where we were going to go. We also talked to them about what they should do if they were at home. When the alarm went off one little girl completely panicked! She just froze in place, covered her ears, and screamed!! I had to pick her up and take her out which made my hands full so I could not hardly do anything else. 
I know her family and they live in a two story house. She has a brother who is a year older (also in my class that day), and a baby brother. If something would happen at their house, God forbid, her mother would have to get to her and her siblings to get them out because they have no action plan and the baby can not get himself out and she panics. Their oldest son is a little scatterbrained.


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## worldengineer (Sep 20, 2010)

Tirediron said:


> Our schools use "lock-down" drills in the case of intruder type emergencies, here the students are taught to be silent and hunker down in place if they are in the washroom or outside of the classroom.
> A disciplined quiet reaction is vital in this type or situation instead of running around screaming , vital in any emergency


Our school system also uses a lockdown drill. But everyone their understands it is best to run for your life than cower. If the oppurtunity arrises I would try to sub-due the person.

Lockdown drills merely corner everybody making them prime targets. An easy hostage situation.


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## geoffreys7 (Jan 11, 2011)

Contact your local fire station I'm sure they would be willing to help you out. I'm a volunteer firemman and every year we have crews visit schools in our area, our town even has a van equiped with supplies and equipemt to take to the schools to teach the kids, each progam is age appropriate. Fun and safety for the young kids, teaching them the basics and then things like how to properly use a fire extinguisher for the older kids. 

The local Red Cross and Rescue Squad also give tours of the ambulances and help with basic first aid classes.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

There should be a Community Emergency Response Team somewhere near ya there in California. 

Get a hold of the director, many of them er emergency managers. They should have some stuff fer ya ta teach, age appropriate an may even be willing ta come in an help.

Youngsters have short attention spans an yer gonna have ta keep it interestin otherwise yer gonna loose em. Even the younger ones can learn some basic first aid. Show them what the local emergency personell look like so if an when they see them again they know who they are.

Fire drills er great, yeah there a pain, but they need ta know what ta do in that situation. Same with what ever other disasters yall can have in yer area, say earthquakes, teach them this is what you do.

After they have listened an learned, give em a plastic badge er decal ta wear ta show mom an pop what they learned that day! Make it fun an they will remember.


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## lexsurivor (Jul 5, 2010)

We do lock down drills at my school too. And your right they are absolutley useless. When someone comes into a school of 2500 and sees the lights off in every class room in the middle of a school day. They are not going to think everyone just left for the day. Especially with cars in the parking lot. And the other thing is they could easily get into our school without going by the front office. Just go down by the gym and knock and our gym teacher tells us to let them in. Even if she doesent reconize them!!!


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## LegitCitizen (Jan 1, 2011)

OldCootHillbilly said:


> There should be a Community Emergency Response Team somewhere near ya there in California.
> 
> Get a hold of the director, many of them er emergency managers. They should have some stuff fer ya ta teach, age appropriate an may even be willing ta come in an help.
> 
> ...


Amen to the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) resources. There are some great CERT groups in California and they have all kinds of resources for school-age children and preparing.

*CERT - Search Councils By Zip Code*This link enables you to find the closest CERT group based on a zip code search.

FEMA even has several indientpendent study web courses on emergencies and schools. Actually they have TONS of indepenedent study courses. You can do them in your spare time... and some of them are pretty good. Here's the link:
*Emergency Management Institute - FEMA Independent Study Program*

I'm a CERT volunteer... and, in my experience, kids do really great with this stuff. Just like anyone else, when you understand what's going on, it's easier on you. Good luck.

~L.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Lex and worldeng the lock downs are designed to keep hysterical kids from running around screaming, lights out makes it harder to see into the rooms from outside, lockdowns are not a good solution , but most of the students are the lambs of sheeple and will just cower anyway of runaround screaming. Self aware individuals would prolly have their own escape plans , I know my son did when he attended public school.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Escape and evasion*

I learned escape and evasion when I was in the fourth grade.

I had an old spinster school teacher that kept me and my best friend after school every day.

We would wait for her to go to the teachers lounge to get a cup of tea and escape out the window.

We always just walked casually until we heard her holler for someone to catch us and then we ran like Hell and hid as soon as we got out of sight.

After the patrol boys searched an area, we would slip home through the area they had just searched.

It's a shame, they don't teach escape and evasion in grade school anymore !


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## IrritatedWithUS (Jan 9, 2011)

What's really scary is that my 8 year old niece's school is currently teaching kids about nuclear attacks. We are well over 200 miles away from the nearest nuclear place. 


This isn't on topic but I taught kids about the spread of germs. 
I made them get in a circle and I told them to put some hand lotion on their hands and rub it in and then stick their hand in salt. I then asked them to shake the hands of their neighbors and vice versa to show them how they transmit germs to one another... :dunno: I try


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

*I gather some of you are teachers?*

*Not to burst bubbles but in this day and age most schools have the "We" know it all"you" know nothing attitude when it comes to teaching kids anything, if the words don't come from DC then they don't want to hear it... I admire the idea of teaching kids anything that will help them survive anything , but you may run afoul of the school "rules" for bringing in unapproved information.. I'd do it anyway but then I'm a problem child and don't play well with others and also ran with scissors at every opportunity..

I think there should be no windows in the doors to a class room and there should be a dead bolt lock on the doors, usable only from the inside.. maybe a key lock that only the teacher has the key for .

If a school needs an armed school cop then it needs more then one... there should only be one entry door during school hours and maybe even a roving patrol around the school ... is this too much? well dead kids are dead for ever.. I'd even start a really serious weapons training class for teachers who want to carry.. and pay them extra for it... but only if they can pass the course..!! I see nothing wrong with doing whatever needs to be done to protect kids at school.. and an armed trained teacher behind a locked door is better then 10 cops writing traffic tickets when a problem arises.. or a SWAT team that stays outside for an hour before going in... If your going to be a school cop.. or as PC puts it..."school resource officer" you best be trained and motivated to charge hell with a bucket of water to save the kids... not waiting outside with the swat cops..

One old time cop at Columbine school could have saved some lives.. when I was a LEO we would never have waited a minute, I would have been thru the door hot on the heels of the first puke.. am I braver then anybody else? hell no.. but I took the job and the pay ( as bad as it was ) and swore an oath so... do the job or walk away and be a WM clerk..

The biggest problem in America is we have allowed the liberals to take over educating our kids.. we need to be proactive... get involved with the school boards.. run against the liberal milk sops.. get people with balls in there ( yes women can have them too!)

As I said I don't play well with most others... good luck with your idea!!! but get some parents with brass ones to back your play.. the ones who can do what you can't...stand up in a public meeting and tell the board to piss off and shut up..

God I love stirring up shit!...*


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*That has changed*



HozayBuck said:


> *Not to burst bubbles but in this day and age most schools have the "We" know it all"you" know nothing attitude when it comes to teaching kids anything, if the words don't come from DC then they don't want to hear it... I admire the idea of teaching kids anything that will help them survive anything , but you may run afoul of the school "rules" for bringing in unapproved information.. I'd do it anyway but then I'm a problem child and don't play well with others and also ran with scissors at every opportunity..
> 
> I think there should be no windows in the doors to a class room and there should be a dead bolt lock on the doors, usable only from the inside.. maybe a key lock that only the teacher has the key for .
> 
> ...


 When I was an Officer, I responded to an armed student call at the local middle school.

I went right to the student,( who was locked down in the cafeteria) and resolved the situation with no force necessary.

In 1994 we didn't have SWAT available. I was SWAT !

After Columbine, and the Amish school shooting, the policy of most police departments , nationwide was changed.

In KY the primary responding officer, is now instructed to enter, seek out and engage the shooter. He is not to wait for backup or SWAT.

The intent is to draw fire away from the students and teachers and to neutralize the shooter.

They introduced this like it was a brand new, original idea .


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Stranger proofing your child*



NaeKid said:


> I would probably start-off with a list of "normal, everyday supplies" that the kids should have with them at all times. You don't say what the ages are that you are trying to work with (grade one or grade six or everything inbetween), so my suggestion would be to make GHB's with the kids that are specific to their ages.
> 
> The GHB should be something that is easy to carry. A child-sized fanny-pack could be a good choice. Each kit should include a laminated name-tag with the parent's names, home address and several forms of contact (phone, cell, email, etc) as well as having a secondary emergency-contact list (aunt, uncle, grandparent, etc). The next thing that should be in the pack would be $5 worth of coins for pay-phone or other such similar use. Another item could be a juice-box and some kind of high-energy snack-food. Finally, a child-sized rain-poncho could be the last thing in the pack. The whole package-deal should be *under* 1 1/2lbs so that it would be something that is easily carried.
> 
> ...


The old school idea was to tell your child never to talk to a stranger, and if they get separated from their parents, to go to a policeman.

That just doesn't work. First of all your children watch you talk to strangers all the time, then you tell them not to.

A pedophile can easily convince your child to talk to him. He knows just exactly what to say and how to say it so it appears he is in charge of your child. He is looking for a kid that looks lost or frightened.

The best thing to tell your child to do, if they become separate from you, is to go to the first nice mommy they see.

Women are, almost never, pedophiles and even the very worst woman, will usually help a child.

Policemen are great, but the odds of your child being abducted, are greater than them finding a policeman when they really need one.

You need to stranger proof your kids, by allowing them to develop their natural intuition about strangers.

The safe way to do this, is to allow them to go to the concession stand, and purchase popcorn or ice-cream, all by their self, while you watch from a distance.

You need to make them aware, that all people are not their friends, and some of them are not nice to kids, If they never learn to make judgements about strangers on their own, they will never develop the street wise intuition, that tells them when to keep their distance.

You can do this with out letting them out of your sight.

They need to know their Name , your name, your address and your phone number.

It is nice to have it on a laminated card around their neck but an adult can remove it, he can't make them forget the information as easy.

They need to know how to call 911.

Hope this helps!


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

BillM said:


> The old school idea was to tell your child never to talk to a stranger, and if they get separated from their parents, to go to a policeman.
> 
> That just doesn't work. First of all your children watch you talk to strangers all the time, then you tell them not to.
> 
> ...


Thank you for posting that information from a "boots on the ground prospective"
:2thumb:


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