The Lake Travis Fire Rescue Safety Squad wrapped up its 11th year of providing meaningful and timely safety training to the children of both the Lake Travis school district and some Leander school district schools in grades kindergarten through eighth grades. The safety messages are geared each year toward safety issues that are facing our kids or that have been a concern within our local community. This year, the show included a “Minion”-themed, interactive 30-minute show with an infusion of popular songs that have specific lyrics that aid the safety team in educating the children. While we have provided the initial messages, we rely on parents and caregivers to continue to support our work through practicing all the points we provided during the show.
Lightning awareness
Lightning can strike at any time, even when weather conditions look clear. The local community suffered an unfortunate lightning incident in 2014. Since then, much of the focus has been geared toward providing lightning detection during sporting events, outdoor concerts and mass gatherings.
But what happens when the child is not in a group setting where an adult may be assessing such conditions or near lightning detection equipment? LTFR recommends adults and children follow the saying “When you hear the roar, go indoors” and head indoors when cloud cover begins to develop.
Personal floatation devices
When on or near a body of water, children should wear a personal floatation device at all times. Not only should they wear a PFD, but parents should ensure that it is properly fitted and secured. Simply draping a vest over a child’s shoulder does not work. For the vest to work as designed, it needs to fit to the size of the individual, with all attached straps and closures fastened. A poorly fitted PFD can give parents a false sense of safety, as the child can easily slip out of the device and drown.
Don’t have enough PFDs for your party? Many Travis County parks have a PFD locker that contains various sized PFDs for people using the park. The program is built around the honor system of borrowing and returning. Many of the PFDs are donated by businesses and local citizens.
Stop, drop, cover and roll
While many will remember “stop, drop and roll,” there has been the addition of “cover” to the safety drill. The cover portion includes covering one’s face, mouth and nose from direct flame contact before beginning to roll. Adults and children can practice this indoors or outdoors without any need for special instructions or equipment.
It has been our experience that even adults need adult supervision from time to time, and all of these basic safety messages can apply to adults. While on the golf course, players should heed the same warnings a child would follow when outside by heading indoors when they hear the roar moving in. Even when fishing, a lone adult can benefit from a PFD if they should become unresponsive because of a medical event. Most PFDs are designed to roll an adult on to his or her back if unconscious thus keeping the airway, nose and mouth, out of the water.
