Safety Drills For Kids Are Important

Until relatively recently, kids bore as much responsibility as the world could heap on them.  They were raised fast and hard, and were mature at much younger ages.  I'm not about to launch into an argument for why that is detrimental, but it's important that we not coddle our kids too much and actually cripple their ability to act with confidence.  Safety drills are a perfect example of something that is often overlooked and leaves kids helpless when they could have been instrumental in helping during a crisis.

HuffPo ran a great article about a doctor whose nine-year-old was able to call 911 while mom performed emergency treatment.  She was calm, as was her son.  The three-year-old who stopped breathing was fine in the long run, but thanks to drills from dad and a mother who was able to take control, the situation went as smoothly as it could have for involving a blue-faced toddler.

Planning for emergencies is important.  For example, my husband and I are rarely together, so we have plans for where to meet and how, in case of emergency.  We even known if it's a major disaster (like a bombing) to meet at X location, if it's something smaller but communication is down we meet at Y.  Our nieces and nephews know how to find each other in case of emergency, as well as how to find us and what to do in case they are at school when the emergency happens.  They all know how to call 911 and perform basic first aid.  When we travel, we always point out the stairs and exit routes and what to do in case of fire.

Just a couple of minutes here and there can do so much to give kids confidence when things go wrong.  They deserve that confidence, and we deserve the peace of mind in knowing we have taught them some basics that could save a life, including theirs.