Emergency!

What should you do in an emergency? How do you call for help? And, what is an emergency anyway? Those are the questions we answered on Friday, partly in preparation for a field trip to the fire station later this month.


We started out by figuring out how to identify an emergency and learning when NOT to call 911. Then, we learned the numbers 911, and Hannah practiced writing the numbers on paper.

While she wrote, I gathered together two toy phones, our cordless phone, and our cell phone, and we used them to practice dialing the correct way on different phones. (Don't worry - we didn't call for real!) I showed them how to wait for the dial tone on a land line and how to dial first and then push the send button on a cell phone.

Then, we rehearsed what to say when the dispatcher answered the phone. They practiced speaking loudly and clearly, answering questions, giving their address, and staying on the phone until the operator tells them to hang up.

Hannah spent half of yesterday running around the living room pressing the numbers "9-1-1" again and again on the toy phone! Thankfully, she also understands that she can't do that on the real phone unless there is an actual emergency.

As a side note, if you are looking for an easy way to teach your kids their address, this worked very well for us. Obviously, I won't share our real address online, but this is what we did (sung to the tune of Jingle Bells):

"House number, and our street, city, and our state. That is what my address is. It's what I need to know!"

After discussing 911, we talked about what to do in a fire. I found a ton of great fire safety tips online, and the kids colored various pages about firemen, smoke detectors, and how to get out and stay out of the house during a fire. Now, they know to check their doorknob for heat and how to crawl low to the ground if the house is smoky.

But, their favorite safety lesson, by far, was learning to stop, drop, and roll. They practiced again and again, especially when I played "Stop, Drop, and Roll" - a song on a Veggie Tales CD that uses a bit of humor to teach kids what to do if their clothes catch fire. They rolled around the house for about 10 minutes straight!


I know this can be a bit of a heavy topic, but I think the kids had a lot of fun. And, I feel better knowing that they at least have a basic idea of what to do in a real emergency, though I hope they never have to put their skills into practice.