School emergency kit

August 31, 2008 Q: How can parents prepare their children for emergencies during the school year?

A: Parents can give their children an extra layer of protection by including an emergency kit in their backpack.

Q: What should the emergency kit include, what are the different types of situations that children can find themselves in that these items will prepare them for?

A: Contents of the backpack Emergency Safety Kit include:

An emergency contact list. It should include parents and grandparents' home, work, cell/pager phone numbers, as well as the phone number of a friend or relative outside of the emergency area.

Assorted Bandages: Purchase bandages, such as sterile bandages that come in a durable container so they do not get squashed under books

Hand Sanitizer: For those times when hand washing facilities are not available hand sanitizer is a good quick safety solution to avoid passing along germs

A small Flashlight or Penlight. To be used for power outages. Make sure to check batteries periodically

Alarm Watch: An inexpensive digital watch that sounds a 110 decibel alarm when activated. It also flashes SOS.

A Fully-Charged Cell Phone Parents can preprogram the telephone with the emergency contact telephone numbers. Also, check with your child's school policy for cell phone use.)

Small bottled water and snack. If your child gets trapped somewhere, he/she will have a snack handy

Reflective tape attached to your child's outerwear for crossing the street

UV Mini umbrella: Great to have on hand for rainy days and to protect against UV exposure.

Handkerchief: Not only to be used for a runny nose, but to protect the child from pollutants and dust in the air

Q: What are some of the other ways parents can prepare their children for emergencies?

A: They are a variety of ways to prepare children for emergencies including:

Teach small children how to call 911 for help.

Practice responding to emergencies with your child.

Make sure older children learn first aid and CPR.

Contact your child's school or daycare center and discuss the emergency plan for your child's school

Walk your children through where they should go in an emergency and why it's important for them to remain at the designated area.

Make sure your child brings the emergency kit with them where ever they go.

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