Ever get that unexplained feeling that you’re not alone?  All it takes is one look at a newspaper or the local evening news to make anyone scared to leave their house.  As a single mom I can’t tell you the number of times I have worried if that car was really following us, or if I had just seen that man at the last store we were in, or worse, wondering if your child was safe at the bus stop.  I’m not proud to admit it but my son has been a latch key kid at different times during his childhood.  That’s not to say that everyone should feel bad if there kids are latch key as well; but I think I can confidently say that no parent likes not being there for their children in any way.  Working families have no choice but to do the best they can to teach their kids personal safety in certain situations when everyone cannot be together.

There are some simple steps you can take as a parent to keep yourself and your children as safe as possible together or apart.  It will require some thoughtful planning on your part and some conversations you have been naively avoiding thinking it won’t happen to you or your kids.  The first part in our safety series will deal with family safety and basic emergency preparedness.  Next week we will follow up with personal safety for moms and their kids.

1.  Have a code word for texts, calls and unplanned caregivers.

When I was four, I was playing on the playground at my preschool.  I remember my teacher calling me over after a woman had drove up to the parking lot, gotten out and came over to our area.  I think the only reason I remember this is because what happened afterward.  My teacher and the lady came over to me and my teacher told me that I needed to go with this nice lady because my mom had been in an accident.  I can’t remember when but my mom had the stranger talk with me and told me never under any circumstance should I ever go somewhere with a stranger.  I believe we had even had the talk in preschool, too.

I don’t have to tell you how obstinate a four year old can be.  If you are a parent, you know!    It took minutes, it seemed like hours, for my teacher to even convince me that this person wasn’t a kidnapper.  I couldn’t believe my teacher was telling me to go with a stranger.  Now, here’s the funny part, the lady was a plain clothes cop.  I didn’t care what my teacher told me about this woman, I was not leaving with her no matter what.

In time, they finally told me that my mom had a wreck.  She had been hit by a slow moving train.  She was four months pregnant with my sister and did not want to release her from the hospital.  For whatever reason, there was no one in the family they could reach by phone to come pick me up before daycare closed.  My mom was a single mom, too.  At the time, the easiest, quickest solution was to have a local officer pick me up and bring me to the hospital to be with my mom until our family could be contacted and be there for us.

Even though this was definitely a situation that required an unknown person to pick up and care for a child there could have been one thing that might have helped the situation.  If we had a family code word we could have prevented fear, confusion and loss of precious time in an emergency from happening.  A family code word is a word you and your children decide upon to use with each other if you are relaying a message by text, phone or in person if something out of the ordinary is happening and you cannot talk to each other.

2.  Come up with a family escape route in case of fire or natural disaster at your home and while you are at work and school.

Actually have a family drill and practice the best escape routes from your home in any possible scenario.  Have these drills regularly to make sure the plans are memorized and your children know exactly what to do in an emergency.  Have a plan for tornado, fire, earthquake, flood and heaven forbid a break in.

It’s also a good idea to have a plan if disaster strikes while everyone is at school and work during the day.  If the kids are at school, most likely they will remain in the care of responsible adults until they are back in your care or safe with authorities.  If something happens before or after school and they ride the bus or with a friend, then what?  Families should have an outside contact person, like Aunt May, that they agree to call in case the phones don’t work in their town.  Granted if this is true, calling Aunt May will be a problem   But let’s assume landlines in your town are out but not cell towers, or only some cell towers.  You can’t reach each other or home.  If you can all call Aunt May a few hours away where the phones are still in working order, then you can find out if everyone is OK and arrange a meeting time/place to be reunited.

3.  Teach kids simple emergency preparedness.

You remember the drills we learned in school:  stop, drop and roll; don’t touch a door handle in a fire; feel the wood of a door before opening in a fire; stand in a doorway in an earthquake; how to dial 911 and give pertinent information police need; never enter high water; which type of fire you can throw salt on and which kind you throw water on; how to use a fire extinguisher; if they are old enough, sign up to take CPR as a family.

4.  Create a First Aid kit for home and the car.

We have a homemade first aid kit that is quite large.  We have full size bottles and boxes of most of the items on the following list.  We also have a small plastic handbag that we keep a smaller, travel first aid kit in for vacations when we travel.  You can adapt these items and kit sizes to your families needs easily.  Some people might need supplies of asthma medications and daily prescription medications that are necessary such as diabetic medications and blood pressure pills.

You will need:

Band-aids, all shapes and sizes

Bandages, all sizes

Gauze

Gauze tape

Antibiotic ointment

Heat wrap

Cold pack

Asprin, advil and Tylenol

Ziploc Bags

Qtips

Wipes

Tweezers Tums

Anti Diarhea Medication

Ex-Lax

Pepto Bismol

Benadryl

Powder

Cotton Balls

Alcohol

Peroxide

Burn Ointment

Visine

Hydrocortisone Cream

Cough & Cold Medicine

Saline Solution, for nose and eyes

GermX

Iodine Solution

Tweezers

Vaseline Jelly

Lotion

Thermometer

Disposable Ponchos

Compass

Whistle

Blanket

Distilled Water

Canned goods

Radio & batteries

Flashlight and batteries

Matches

Candles

Aloe Vera

Baking Soda

Elastic Bandages

Ice Pack

Syrup of Ipecac

Latex Gloves

Magnifying Glass

Burn Cream

Sling

Tissue

Syringe

Soap

Mirror

Needle

Scissors

Safety Pins

Once you have assembled all your family’s necessary first aid items, find a box or plastic conatiner that will hold everything and keep the kit in an easily accessible place for you and your children.

For more information on how to get your family ready in case of natural disasters or fire, go to The American Red Cross Site and see how they teach families to be prepared.

Next week, personal safety for your family.