September
is National Preparedness Month, which means it’s the perfect time to
start conversations with your family on how to stay safe in a variety of
situations. Here are a few examples of conversations to have and tips
to share with your loved ones.
- Teach fire safety to your family. Walk your family through the different safety precautions to take when there is a house fire. Quiz your children on Stop, Drop and Roll, your family meeting place, and emergency numbers. A fun way for kids to learn fire safety is to take a family trip to your local firehouse to meet firefighters. Call ahead to find if there’s a time your family can stop by to meet these heroes and make sure you’re all prepared for a fire.
- Make sure your older kids have safety in mind when they're home alone. If you have any children that are old enough to stay home alone, you probably already talked to them about being safe during these times. However, it doesn’t hurt to check back in with them and make sure they keep these safety tips in mind. Talk with them about emergency numbers, safety when using stoves and ovens, and how to keep your home secure. If you have a home security system like SimpliSafe, make sure they understand how to correctly use it.
- Consider having a family safe word. A family safe word comes in handy for many situations. Whether it’s a password to know it’s safe to open the front door or a warning that something isn’t right, it can be very beneficial to have one. Try to pick a word or sentence that you would never typically use so other family members know for sure that something is wrong. Test your family occasionally to make sure they remember the word and give them examples of situations where they would need to use it.
- Educate your family on different natural disasters and ways in which they can best survive them. 218 million people are affected in some way by a natural disaster each year. Teach your family about all disasters - not just ones that could happen in your area. You may think your city is safe from an earthquake, for example, but you never know if one with occur while on vacation!
These
things may be scary to think about, especially for children, but it’s
so important to make sure your family is smart when it comes to these
situations. It never hurts to take a few minutes out of your day to take
steps to protect your loved ones.
What are some ways you make sure your family is prepared?