Us
Print
E-mail
Rate
Day care center gets a lesson in fire drills
 |
| Karen Steiskal, the Wee Care Preschool and Daycare manager, gives a thumbs-up to Columbia County firefighters after a successful fire drill. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
By TONY BRITT
tbritt@lakecityreporter.com
The high-pitched shrieking sound of a fire alarm pierced the air at the Wee Care Preschool and Daycare.
Sleepy toddlers, infants and other children were awakened from their afternoon naps to the high pitched alarm and were immediately herded to the nearest exits. Many of the children, startled by the fire alarm, burst into tears as they headed for the exits — unbeknownst to them that this was only a drill.
The Columbia County Fire Department and its division chief David Boozer organized the fire drill during nap time as part of an effort to help local child care centers develop adequate fire evacuation plans for their facilities.
Boozer said he decided to work with the day care providers after he read about a 4-year-old girl who died in a day care center fire in Tallahassee last month. He said the center was supposedly evacuated and then one of the children asked where her friend was, which jogged the center’s staff into remembering the child who was sleeping during nap time. The child was found dead in the center, on her mat, some 18 minutes later.
“We’re just giving the providers an awareness in trying to remember to practice their fire drills,” Boozer said. “We were made aware of the fatality in Tallahassee in where a 4-year-old was left in a building ... We came out today and we wanted to see what effects this (drill) would have on the kids during nap time and it was also to bring the staff awareness up also. Our main purpose is trying to make sure that when parents drop their kids off at a day care facility, that they can rest assured that (their children) are receiving the utmost in care.”
Boozer and two county firefighters visited five local day care facilities Monday and plan to visit and conduct drills in all of the county’s commercial and home-based day care facilities.
“The nice part is operators have a real concerned and they want to do what’s right and you can tell that in every worker,” he said.
Wee Care Preschool and Daycare owner Maria Ellis said the drill provided insight on things they need to address as part of their fire evacuation plans.
“We had already looked at different things we weren’t comfortable with and things that weren’t flowing right in our other drills, but this really brought to attention some of the things we really need to tweak to make it flow smoother,” she said, noting 58 children and nine staff members participated in the drill. “I was really appreciative of the information.”
During the fire drills, Boozer said he notes how facility operators notify emergency responders, how the children exit the buildings and how long it takes to evacuate a structure.
“Once the evacuation is complete, we’re checking the staff to make sure they have conducted a secondary survey to make sure all the kids are out,” he said. “When we get them outside, we’re checking to make sure they know who’s there and that they have the proper number of kids.”
Ellis said the facility conducts fire drills every month, but Monday’s drill helped them find things in their plan which needed improvement.
“This really brings it home of how important it is when you do the drill and everyone is not expecting it. It makes you sink or swim,” she said. “This was very eye-opening. Some of the things we knew about, but other things we hadn’t thought of and that was very educational.”
Sleepy toddlers, infants and other children were awakened from their afternoon naps to the high pitched alarm and were immediately herded to the nearest exits. Many of the children, startled by the fire alarm, burst into tears as they headed for the exits — unbeknownst to them that this was only a drill.
The Columbia County Fire Department and its division chief David Boozer organized the fire drill during nap time as part of an effort to help local child care centers develop adequate fire evacuation plans for their facilities.
Boozer said he decided to work with the day care providers after he read about a 4-year-old girl who died in a day care center fire in Tallahassee last month. He said the center was supposedly evacuated and then one of the children asked where her friend was, which jogged the center’s staff into remembering the child who was sleeping during nap time. The child was found dead in the center, on her mat, some 18 minutes later.
“We’re just giving the providers an awareness in trying to remember to practice their fire drills,” Boozer said. “We were made aware of the fatality in Tallahassee in where a 4-year-old was left in a building ... We came out today and we wanted to see what effects this (drill) would have on the kids during nap time and it was also to bring the staff awareness up also. Our main purpose is trying to make sure that when parents drop their kids off at a day care facility, that they can rest assured that (their children) are receiving the utmost in care.”
Boozer and two county firefighters visited five local day care facilities Monday and plan to visit and conduct drills in all of the county’s commercial and home-based day care facilities.
“The nice part is operators have a real concerned and they want to do what’s right and you can tell that in every worker,” he said.
Wee Care Preschool and Daycare owner Maria Ellis said the drill provided insight on things they need to address as part of their fire evacuation plans.
“We had already looked at different things we weren’t comfortable with and things that weren’t flowing right in our other drills, but this really brought to attention some of the things we really need to tweak to make it flow smoother,” she said, noting 58 children and nine staff members participated in the drill. “I was really appreciative of the information.”
During the fire drills, Boozer said he notes how facility operators notify emergency responders, how the children exit the buildings and how long it takes to evacuate a structure.
“Once the evacuation is complete, we’re checking the staff to make sure they have conducted a secondary survey to make sure all the kids are out,” he said. “When we get them outside, we’re checking to make sure they know who’s there and that they have the proper number of kids.”
Ellis said the facility conducts fire drills every month, but Monday’s drill helped them find things in their plan which needed improvement.
“This really brings it home of how important it is when you do the drill and everyone is not expecting it. It makes you sink or swim,” she said. “This was very eye-opening. Some of the things we knew about, but other things we hadn’t thought of and that was very educational.”
 |
||
| Millage rate set at max 3.9236 |
Great Job wrote on Aug 5, 2008 7:02 AM: