School fire safety hinges on notification

While “stop, drop and roll”While school safety may have been the main concern for children in school 20 years ago. Today, school violence is more common than ever. It’s important for children to be reminded what to do when faced with a more common safety concern, such as a fire.

While schools are legally required to have evacuation plans and smoke alarms, it is a good idea to teach your children how to do this. These are some things to keep in mind when teaching children about school fire safety.

* Brief them about the procedure of an evacuation. Tell your children where you will be in an emergency to calm their nerves. If your school has adopted IRIS, for example, you can tell them where you will be in an emergency.www.useiris.comLet your children know that you will be notified of any emergency that may arise.

IRIS is an acronym for Immediate Response Information System. It sends messages to thousands in seconds and transmits voice and text alerts across multiple devices, including cell phones, PDAs, and fax machines. You can send emergency messages in more than 10 languages.

You can check to see if your local schools have implemented such a system. If not, you can encourage the authorities to adopt it. These systems are not only useful for parents in emergency situations, but also make it easier to help children who have been evacuated.

* Make sure they’re familiar with their school’s layout. Take your children with you to the school and show them possible escape routes.

Find the exits. Make sure your children know where each room is relative to other classrooms. They will be guided by their teachers during an evacuation. However, if they are separated it is helpful for them to have a map of the school.

* Feel first. Your children should be taught basic fire safety precautions. When fleeing from a fire, teach your children how to feel the door’s surface before opening it.

If a hot door is visible, it could indicate that there is a fire in the room they are about to enter. This could mean that they need to find an alternative exit route. This is a sign of how important it is to be familiar with the layout of the school.

* Stay low. Your children should be instructed to walk while crouching if they are forced to leave their school. To keep your children safe from smoke, it is important to stay low if there is a nearby fire.