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Happy Monday Everyone:D,
For quite some time, I have been wanting to do a fire plan of my own. I do monthly checks on my fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, carbon-monoxide, etc. I also practice fire drill with my kids. My questions is what should I include in a fire plan or do I really need one. My daycare is in the basement and I only have a window. I need to go upstairs to my main floor to access to exit my home. Can anyone share or give adivice ? Thanks a million.
If you had to evacuate in the winter where will you go? The children and you will be without shoes and coats.
My 3 direct neighbors are all retired and typically all home during the day so my plan is to get everyone out and go to one of their houses to stay warm. I have all parent contact info and emergency contact numbers in my phone which is on me so I can call parents. I also have a few printed copies near exits to grab when we go.
Where do the children nap...if you had to evacuate during nap how will you do it? Mine all sleep in separate rooms so I have a general sense of how I would go about getting them all out of their cribs in a quick exit. Mine are all 12-16months now so need help. I would literally lie a blanket on the floor throw them on it, grab all four ends in my hands and run them out. They won't be happy and won't be comfy but it is about the only way to get them all out in one go.
Here's hoping we never have to try such a thing. Luckily most fires do not happen during the day and when they do we are awake and alert so have more time to exit than during the night. That said, we still need to plan for it.
In the winter I shovel out all my basement windows, with a large area around them and a path away from the house...so I can throw the kids out and they will be able to get away from the house without going through chest deep snow.
Thank you Lee-Bee. Like you a have a few neighbors that are home and would definitely run to during the fire. I also have all my parents numbers on my cell phone that is with me at all times and a copy in my first aid pouch that I would grab in a fire situation.
All the children nap in the same room and all walk except for a 1 year old that I would have to carry. So it would be a quick get away. If anything I have a playpen by my exit, where I would just throw them all in and run out to our neighbor.
I have it all planned out mentally in my mind, but my question is should I have a written fire plan written out, for parents to look at?
Some of my parents did ask my plan...but generally I would not approach them with it. If anything you would just be bringing the possibility of an emergency to their mind and causing undue concern! If it's on their mind they will ask you if you are prepared. Otherwise I feel it's best not to bring it up.
I have a floor plan that a drew that has arrows on to indicate how we we'd exit from the main floor and basement. This is posted at my entrance for everyone to see. I have a emergency plan that I wrote up that covers fire, tornados, gas leak, power outages, even bomb threats - this a requirement for getting licensed in Manitoba. All my parent were given a copy of this when they signed up with me. I don't see anything wrong with making parents think about these things, if it were me I would be happy to know my daycare had these things all thought out.
I'm like Lee-Bee, I have retired neighbours on one side and 4 college students on the other side and there is usually 1-2 of them home at any time. Both neighbours know I run a daycare and I know would offer to help if need be. The neighbours in the back alley across from me know I have a dc but none of them are home during the day. I have considered using my car alarm as an alert and asking my neighbours if they hear the alarm go off, if they wouldn't mind coming to my aid.
I also have my dc in the basement but I have all dc kids sleep in one room and one just outside of that room so it would be easy to grab them all. If we could make it upstairs that would be the 1st plan as my exit door is right at the top of the stairs. If not, I would break open the bedroom window which has the spare bed right below it so it would act as a "stool". The window goes right out to my backyard which is fenced in. It wouldn't be ideal but it would allow me to get all the kids out and than I would have to pull myself out too.
Thankfully, my fiance is home until 245pm so I would have his help....unless the emergency happened after that! I also have all the parent contact info in my phone and that is always on me. I think I might put a paper copy in my car though just in case! I have also considered putting all the kids in my car (with or without seats, would depend if they were in there) if my neighbours weren't home and I could drive the 4 blocks to my in-laws. I know it's not ideal but in an emergency I would do whatever I needed too to keep them safe. From March to about Sept/Oct, there is a restaurant open which is only 3 houses from me so that is an option as well if we needed somewhere to go.
I am like Lee-Bee, I will tell the parents my plan(s) if they ask but I don't have a formal policy in effect that I show them.
I'm the same at AmandaKDT. I also keep warm blankets in my van, because I'm able to open the doors for inside the house. So any kids that are old enough to run outside on their own can safely wait in the van while I'm getting the younger ones out. A copy of all of my child information sheets is located in my first aid backpack, and we evacuate to a house two doors away.
All of this is written out and posted at my front door and I email a copy to parents when I send them the child information sheets to fill out. I also keep my evacuation/floor plan taped to the board that the attendance records are on, so I can grab that on my way out the door.
What a great idea to have copies of children's and emergency contact info at all the exits. I keep that in a backpack at the front door but often thought what if we have to use a different exit in an emergency. I'm going to make up a few copies of this info and put it at all the exits tonight.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee-Bee