Daycare Fire

[Heidi]

Even in-homes should have these. You can throw 6 kids in, and you can even lift and carry one with 2 adults.
If you can afford it get home monitoring and wire in to police and fire. This will speed help up considerably.
Also every in-home should have in their handbook where they go if this happens. It is -7 here and we would not be able to be on the sidewalk. I have keys to a church 5 houses away in case of an emergency and it is in my handbook that the parents will find me there with the children in case of an evacuation.

The best I could do is put them all in my car, if it's parked outside (the garage is attached). Our neighborhood is 6 miles from town, and all our lots are 1-2 acres. All my direct neighbors are gone during the day, most days.

[Heidi]

I have an evacuation crib but if our exit was blocked the second exit is up stairs So I would need to grab them under my arms.

I don't have one, but with the layout of my house, it'd do me little good anyway. 4 kids (occasionally 6) on 2 different levels.

[Heidi]

I don't get your thinking either~

My thinking would be to get all of them out, mine and others. I would not aim for any particular child except for all of them- I wouldn't stop until they were all out either-

I don't either, but it doesn't matter. It's her thinking, and that's a-ok in my book.

In a situation like this, there is no right answer, and no amount of planning "here is what I would do" can really prepare you. Practice will up the odds of getting the kids out, but there are just too many variables to know anything. The ONLY thing we can do is take this tragedy as a lesson to do whatever we can to be as prepared as possible. sigh...

[Blackcat31]

well, clearly not everyone is the same. Call me a terrible parent if you want. I don't really care what you think.

There are lots of reasons why I feel this way--and I don't have to defend myself to some faceless stranger who won't even use a username to ID herself.

I totally understand where you are coming from.

I don't know what I would do in that situation for sure and hopefully will never have to find out but I have often felt the same way in other similar (but not nearly as tragic) situations.

For example, my DS and his friend were playing outside at my daycare one time. My DS, now 22 yrs old was about 7 at the time. Anyways, he and his friend were splitting rocks. (My DH builds split rock fireplaces and such...) and my DS ended up getting his finger smashed between two rocks.

It ended up being a really bad accident...he had a long surgery to repair, months of PT and Dr's visits.

I remember looking back that the biggest thing I felt was relief that it was MY child that got hurt and not one of the daycare kids.

I know you know what I mean..... so I don't need to explain why.

[TaylorTots]

Thank goodness 5 children were safe, there could have been a much higher death count. lovethis

[lovemykidstoo]

I think you can have every plan in place, but if this type of tragic event occurs, so many factors come into play. I don't think that anyone can say what they will or won't do if the time comes. Depends on how thick the smoke is, how hot it is, where the fire is, what obstacles are in the way etc.

[My3cents]

well, clearly not everyone is the same. Call me a terrible parent if you want. I don't really care what you think.

There are lots of reasons why I feel this way--and I don't have to defend myself to some faceless stranger who won't even use a username to ID herself.

I don't get your thinking either~

My thinking would be to get all of them out, mine and others. I would not aim for any particular child except for all of them- I wouldn't stop until they were all out either-

[SilverSabre25]

I don't know how any parent could ever say that. I would make sure my own child was safe first before anyone else. I could care less what people was to say I couldn't live my life without my baby.

well, clearly not everyone is the same. Call me a terrible parent if you want. I don't really care what you think.

There are lots of reasons why I feel this way--and I don't have to defend myself to some faceless stranger who won't even use a username to ID herself.

[itlw8]

I have an evacuation crib but if our exit was blocked the second exit is up stairs So I would need to grab them under my arms.

[bloominggenius]

Even in-homes should have these. You can throw 6 kids in, and you can even lift and carry one with 2 adults.
If you can afford it get home monitoring and wire in to police and fire. This will speed help up considerably.
Also every in-home should have in their handbook where they go if this happens. It is -7 here and we would not be able to be on the sidewalk. I have keys to a church 5 houses away in case of an emergency and it is in my handbook that the parents will find me there with the children in case of an evacuation.

My heart goes out to everyone involved.

A long time ago I was thinking it over and came to the sobering conclusion that, at the time when my DS was a baby and not walking, that if a fire broke out I would probably save all the dcks first and come back for DS. Let's face it. The news wouldn't care if a provider's OWN child was injured or killed, but you'll be lambasted by everyone in the city if a dck gets injured or killed--especially if you saved your own child first.

It makes me tear up thinking about it even now, but my feelings are the same. And I pray with all my heart that I never have to act on that.

I don't know how any parent could ever say that. I would make sure my own child was safe first before anyone else. I could care less what people was to say I couldn't live my life without my baby.

[nanglgrl]

You can have the best plans but sadly a fire doesn't care. Your survival instincts WILL kick in and if your faced with getting out of a burning house when you're already inhaling smoke, coughing and feeling the intense heat or staying inside and trying to save another person you may not get to make the choice because your survival instinct will probably make it for you. This is why firefighters have gear and training. Most people wouldn't be physically or mentally able to stay in a fire that was burning fast and hot.

[rosieteddy]

What about the evacuation cribs? When I took a year hyatis from family child care and worked in a center we sat or laid up to 6 infants in one and pushed it out the building.It was quick and manageable.

[MCC]

This is horrible, so sad.

My assistant and I were just talking about getting more serious about our fire drills. We do them once a month, but it's always ideal timing. I think it would really benefit us to do one during nap time. We have 5 under 1, which is fine as far are regs are concerned, but if they were all sleeping, I think it would take a little organization to get them out.

[TwinKristi]

Someone posted a comment about finding a daycare that cares about the kids on their news page like that jackhat has any idea what it takes to provide care for 6+ kids! It's entirely possible the fire was too big and she couldn't go back in to get the baby. The baby died from smoke inhalation so you can't say going in would have saved her. She may have died before they even got out of the house! It's incredibly horribly sad but this IS exactly why they limit infant care to only 2. Whoever dealt with the pissy mom who was mad that she would accept a non-walking 18 month old or whatever... THIS is why!! It endangers a child if there's a fire and they can't walk.