Finding A System With the Right Features

Having a working fire alarm in your home, such as from Eastern Fire, can greatly ease your mind, especially when your family includes children. On its own, the fire alarm isn't enough to save your family's lives — you'll need to have regular fire drills so that everyone feels confident in their ability to exit the house in a timely manner. While you can teach your children exactly what to do when the fire alarm sounds, one of the best teaching methods is to evaluate how they act in this situation and provide feedback accordingly. Here are some specific things to evaluate when you practice fire drills with your family.

Their Speed Of Exit

While there's no universally acceptable time that it should take each family member to exit the home and meet up at a predetermined spot in the yard, it's good to evaluate how quickly your children are able to exit the home. Ideally, you want them to meet up outside just as quickly as you and your spouse. If the children are slow, you can talk to them about what might have caused the delay. For example, some children may wish to gather stuffed animals or other important possessions before exiting the home, so you'll need to correct this behavior.

Their Ease Of Reaching The Meeting Point

It's not simply enough to leave the house during a fire alarm. Children also need to remember where to meet up. Having a designated meeting spot outside will allow you to quickly identify who has escaped the house and who may be left inside in the event of an actual fire. You want your children to be able to remember where to meet up with other family members, especially in the chaos that can occur when your fire alarm is ringing loudly.

Their Serious Attitude Of The Event

It's vitally important for children to take fire drills seriously. You can often tell how seriously they view the situation if you don't tell them that you're holding a fire drill — if you simply sound the alarm, the children may be led to believe that there's actually a fire. You want to see that the children view the situation with a serious attitude, rather than think it's funny or a fun adventure to have the fire alarm sounding. If a child is making jokes or doesn't seem to understand the severity of the situation, you can then gently correct these issues.