Emergency Preparedness

Because I live in the state of Florida, we must have an emergency plan for several different types of emergency weather as well as fire evacuation plan. At my home daycare we do fire drills on a weekly basis and talk about our fire drill plan. Parents are given a copy of our Emergency Preparedness plan if they would like a copy, but a copy is also posted on our bulletin board as well.  According to my state regulations, I must have a bag with emergency items for the children which includes, diapers/baby wipes, juice, snacks, first aid kit, and emergency information for the children and contact information for parents.  Tornados are less likely in our area, but we do Tornado drills on a monthly basis. All of the information and steps for caring for the children are the same as for a fire. One other emergency weather plan we must prepare for is hurricanes. Hurricanes are slightly different than fire or tornado. We do not have a drill that we complete, but we do have a plan. We have a kit specifically set up with water, foods that will not spoil, flashlights, batteries, clothing, blankets, baby wipes, plastic bags and a first aid kit. While we do not expect that daycare children would be with their parents, there are cases when I have a military family and the child may be stuck here with me so we must plan for that. I always talk with the children about the drills and plans. I make sure to give them the information they need but not so much as to scare them (Robertson, 2010).

References

Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.