My wife and our two small children did a Melrose firehouse visit a few weekends back. http://www.melrose-firefighters.org/
The fire fighters were great. Gave a good presentation. Let
the kids climb a bit.
Memories from childhood were there: Call 911 (911 was not
universal in my childhood), Get safely to a nearby assembly point. Also
remember “stop, drop, and roll”, avoid standing up in a smoke filled room, and
test doors for heat before exiting. Smoke detectors seem to have largely prevented those
problems.
A few things we had not thought of…
When one is leaving/assembling turn the porch light on. Make
your house stand out from the others nearby so that the first responders have
an extra few seconds.
The real kicker:
The firefighters did a demo of how they put on their gear.
At first this seemed like entertainment. But the demo was about getting the
little ones to realize that there is a person under all that protective gear –
a person who is there to help. The little ones got more apprehensive as the
gear was donned, and warning beeps started coming from radios and breathing
gear, and the fire fighter started to look increasingly inhuman. It took some
encouragement to get them to come up for a high five and/or a photo. The point being made was to not run away from the firefighter.
The firefighters made special note to enjoin the kids to not hide when there
was a fire – especially from the first responders.
