484
Russell C. Coile
preparedness with which all teachers are involved. In addition, the Pacifi c
Grove Fire Department has an Earthquake and Fire Safety trailer. This
teaching tool can be brought to each school so that all the kindergartners,
fi rst and second graders can be taught appropriate earthquake and fi re
safety preparedness in conjunction with the teacher's own preparedness
teaching projects. As a matter of fact, this trailer is not only for Pacifi c
Grove schools. The Northern California Disaster Preparedness Network was
given some of the American Red Cross money received in California for
earthquake victims and earthquake preparedness after the 1989 Loma
Prieta earthquake to disburse for worthwhile projects. The Pacifi c Grove Fire
Department received its grant from the Tri-County, Monterey-San Benito-
Santa Cruz, Disaster Preparedness Committee to obtain the teaching trailer
for use by schools in all the cities of the three counties. For example there
are twelve cities in Monterey County. All of the fi re departments in the three
counties were invited to send fi remen to free train-the-trainer classes in
Pacifi c Grove so that they could have qualifi ed instructors to teach children
in their home areas. The trailer has also been demonstrated at county fairs
and other events to publicize its availability.
The trailer looks like a two-story house. It is a two-story house, but it
is built to the scale of the height of an average six year old child -- adults
can crawl around inside on their hands and knees. A group of ten children,
accompanied by a fi reman instructor, go into the downstairs living room
and listen to a talk on earthquake safety in the home. They learn why
bookcases and hot water heaters should be bolted to wall studs, how to
run and tell their mother if the fi replace screen were to fall over while there
was a fi re in the fi replace, etc. The children take turns practicing telephoning
9-1-1 to report a pretend emergency. Actually, a second fi reman instructor
in the trailer's control room answers the phone and asks them the same
questions a real 9-1-1 operator would ask.
After the children are upstairs on the second fl oor in a bedroom, the
instructor asks one of the children to get in bed and pretend to be asleep.
Then the control room fi reman simulates a fi re in the bedroom by releasing
dense (theatrical, non-toxic) smoke which activates a smoke detector
alarm. The child is taught to roll out of bed and crawl to a door -- `Never
stand up and run!.' They are also taught `Never open a door without feeling
it!' -- to fi nd out if it is hot because of fi re on the other side of the door. The
control room fi reman can make the door hot so that the children learn not
Summary :
This teaching tool can be brought to each school so that all the kindergartners, fi rst and second graders can be taught appropriate earthquake and fi re safety preparedness in conjunction with the teacher's own preparedness teaching projects. They learn why bookcases and hot water heaters should be bolted to wall studs, how to run and tell their mother if the fi replace screen were to fall over while there was a fi re in the fi replace, etc.
Tags :
children,earthquake,preparedness,trailer,door,room,all,pacifi,groe,reman,second,taught,safety