Escape Plan

Last night at about 11pm, I found out that the smoke/fire detectors we just installed definitely work. The tenant was cooking and burned something, setting off the fire alarm in the entire house. ADT called to see if we were ok, but could not stop the police/firemen from coming. Everything checked out ok and we went back to sleep. Well, everyone did but me. My mind starting racing, keeping me up till 1:30am. I was upset about my reaction. My first instinct was to shut off the alarm. Shouldn't my first instinct be to make sure the kids are OK and the house is not on fire? Then shut off the alarm? What if it was a real fire? What would I have done? Then it dawned on me that we do not have a plan in place, not at all. I don't want to scare the kids, but I need to talk to them about it. At least have some idea what we would do. Just in case.

Do you have an escape plan set up for emergencies? Do you test it every once in awhile to make sure everyone knows what to do?

 

As I've learned from TFP:

What's the point of an escape plan?

It's like a spare car tire: useless.

Nothing bad ever happens.

Stop being paranoid.

Pass the reefer.​

As with any emergency situation: Think SACK

Security: Protect yourself and others by moving, using equipment, etc.
Accountability: Do you have everybody? Do you have necessary equipment?
Communication: Call those who need to know and those that can assist you.
Kill: The motherfucker responsible for the screw-up that got you in hot water.

SACK is great because it applies to all sorts of incidents: natural disasters, gun fights, etc.

Many moons ago, I was brainwashed by an elite paramilitary organization: the Boy Scouts. While I did what most 15 year old kids do in the Scouts (washed the fuck out), I took the life lessons and that fat Handbook and made it my mission in life to Be Prepared. Crazy shit like keeping a fire extinguisher and a few cases of bottled water in the house. Stupid things like learning how to treat medical emergencies like massive hemorrhaging and airway blockages. Paranoid thoughts like some people are capable of Bad Shit and how to deal with People Doing Bad Shit. Huge waste of money.

 

Living in the middle of the National Forest, our issue is forest fires. The daughters have moved out, it's pretty much 3 P's for us. Puppies, pictures, and papers. Everything else is insured.

Odds are Molly will wake me; but she isn't exactly hard to find. I'm likely tripping over her. 3 decades of pictures and negatives are in 2 Tupperware tubs. Important documents are in a 3rd, and everything digital is backed up to a NAS.

In terms of anything else, we can be self sufficient for about a month.

 

Don't make it anyone's responsibility to "retrieve" something in the event of a fire. have whoever lives in the house do nothing more than get the hell out, and rally at a safe and planned location. Plan9's method is pretty good...

if you start making it a group concern to retrieve things, then the evac plan is already a failure. what happens if everyone goes to retreive it, but someon already got it... does a search for "it" begin? does everyone die in a fire while looking for "it"... the only ting that cant be replaced is people... and yes, you need a plan, and that in and of itself, shoudnt freak your kids out... and practicing occasionally is good too... they do it at school, why not at home?

 

Heck. I'm so glad that it was NOT actually an emergency, and that you are OK.

Having plans and routines set up for such events is, IMO, part of personal hygene. Need not scare the kids to know that there are Very Sensible things to do which will lower the probablility of Bad things. "Phew, thank goodness we've got a good escape plan worked out" ... this could be formed as a brainstorming session. The knock-on effect could be to give the children an extra sense of immediacy and connectedness regarding the importance of such habits as checking that the lights are turned off and the also the gas not left fizzing, ect. Awareness and responsibility, rather than just rote and routine.

Take care