Home Alone: Prepare Kids for Emergencies

Many children don’t have adult supervision 100% of the time. Parents and caregivers have jobs, errands, and other responsibilities that require them to leave their kids home alone some of the time.

Emergencies and no-notice disasters can happen during these gaps in supervision. Here are some practical skills you can teach, and conversations you can have, to prepare them to be home alone.

Talk About Emergencies

Emergencies can be scary for anybody, especially children. Parents and guardians must talk to kids about what they can anticipate during and after an emergency. Talking to kids about emergencies, involving them in preparedness activities, and teaching them what to do during an emergency can give them a sense of control if a real emergency happens.

Teach Kids to Use 911

One of the most important lessons a parent or guardian can teach a child—regardless of whether they spend time home alone—is how and when to call 911.

Kate Elkins is a 911 and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) specialist with the National 911 Program in the NHTSA Office of EMS. She has first-hand experience as a paramedic responding to calls from children.

“Kids can be incredibly powerful in a crisis,” she said. “They want to help themselves and their families. It’s important to talk to kids about how and when to call 911. And to let them know that 911 is a resource that can empower them.”

Here are some things you can do to help kids feel more comfortable about calling 911:

  • Explain the purpose of 911. They should dial 911 only for an emergency. An emergency is a serious situation when a police officer, firefighter, or paramedic is needed right away.(1)
  • Prepare kids to answer the 911 operator’s questions. Explain to them that the operator will ask several questions like, “What is your emergency? What is your address? What phone number can they call you back on?” And they will ask more detailed questions about who needs help, why they need help, and if it’s a medical emergency, they will ask a series of questions and may give directions on what to do to help.
  • Teach kids how to use the emergency call feature from a locked cell phone.
  • Give kids examples of when to call 911. For example, tell them to “Call 911 if someone is threatening or hurting someone else, if something is on fire (but you may need to call from a neighbor’s house if the fire is at your house), or someone is hurt, bleeding, or lying on the ground and not moving.”
  • Reassure kids that calling 911 is easy to do. Also, that operators want to help. Emphasize the importance of answering the operator’s questions honestly, following their directions, and staying on the phone until told to hang up.
  • Also, go over what to do if your child accidentally calls 911 and there is not an emergency. It is important to stay on the line and explain there is no emergency so that 911 does not send responders to investigate a hang-up call.

Deciding if a situation is an emergency can be difficult for a child. They might have to use their best judgment. Tell them it is better to call 911 if they are in doubt and there’s no time to ask a parent, guardian, or neighbor.

“Sometimes, you just need to give kids permission to call 911 if they’re scared,” said Elkins. “It’s ok. Public safety telecommunicators are trained to take these kinds of calls.”

Partner with Neighbors

Let children know that if an emergency happens, they should look for “the helpers” in their community. This could be a friendly neighbor, teacher, or adult relative.

Introduce your kids to trusted neighbors who might help in an emergency. If possible, share your contact information with them so that they will be able to reach you in an emergency. In return, offer to be an emergency contact for them and their kids.

Practice Makes Perfect

Practicing emergency scenarios with kids can help familiarize them with what they should do in an emergency and build up their confidence to respond.(2)

Role-play to help kids decide when and practice how to dial 911. Act out different scenarios, such as a tornado warning or a stranger coming to the door, when kids may need to take shelter, or call 911. Make cellphone passcode entry part of your 911 role play.

Elkins also recommends reaching out to your local EMS agency, fire department, and police department to arrange a visit. Ask them to talk to your kids about calling 911. Getting to know the people who answer the phone when they call 911 is another way to make kids feel more comfortable and confident about calling.

Learn more about how to prepare children for an emergency.

References

  1. https://www.911.gov/needtocallortext911.html
  2. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/homealone.pdf

Resources

Thanks in advance for your questions and comments on this Public Health Matters post. Please note that the CDC does not give personal medical advice. If you are concerned you have a disease or condition, talk to your doctor.

Have a question for CDC? CDC-INFO (http://www.cdc.gov/cdc-info/index.html) offers live agents by phone and email to help you find the latest, reliable, and science-based health information on more than 750 health topics.

 

 

Preparing for the Worst-case Scenario

"ROTTERDAM, HOLLAND - SEPTEMBER 5, 2010: Demonstration of handling of car crash victim by medics at the annual World Harbor Days in Rotterdam, Holland on September 5"
New York City completed a functional exercise to help the city’s hospital system prepare for emergency medical personnel to treat and transport children, like this young girl, after a catastrophic event.

Setting the Stage

Celia Quinn
Celia Quinn, MD, MPH CDC Career Epidemiology Field Officer assigned to NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Imagine this: Explosions across New York City target elementary schools. Hundreds of severely injured and traumatized children, teachers, and parents flood hospital emergency departments in the five boroughs. Municipal emergency medical services (EMS) are rushing to respond.

Fortunately this scenario wasn’t really happening – it was part of an exercise conducted on May 25, 2017. The exercise was designed to test the ability of the New York City (NYC) Healthcare System to respond to a massive surge of pediatric trauma patients, exceeding the usual resources of this large and complex healthcare system.

Identifying the Players

As a CDC Career Epidemiology Field Officer assigned to NYC, I worked with the experts in the Pediatric Disaster Coalition and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). We designed an exercise that reflected the number of injured children who would need to go to the hospital and the type of injuries they might experience if a similar event really happened.

NYC has 62 acute care hospitals that participate in the 911 system. Of these, 16 are level 1 trauma centers designated by the NYC Department of Health  (this includes three pediatric level 1 trauma centers and 4 burn centers). A total of 28 hospitals care for pediatric patients and have, during the past seven years with the assistance of the NYC Pediatric Disaster Coalition, developed pediatric-specific components of their overall disaster plans to prepare them to receive pediatric patients from an incident like the one invented for this exercise. All 28 hospitals participated in the exercise.

Coordinating Resources

Hospitals who participated in the exercise were challenged to rapidly respond to more than 60 simulated patients with a range of injuries and conditions:

  • a 7-year-old boy unresponsive after a traumatic injury to his head

    Hospital nursing leadership reports on the status of nursing staff, while the hospital’s Public Information Officer looks on.
    Hospital nursing leadership reports on the status of nursing staff, while the hospital’s Public Information Officer looks on.
  • A toddler with burns to the face, chest, and abdomen
  • A 12-year-old distraught after witnessing another child lose arms in an explosion

Hospitals had to assess the resources that were available to care for the patients, including

  • What nursing and specialty staff could be made immediately available?
  • What medications and equipment, including imaging equipment and burn supplies, were needed to care for the children?
  • What communications and incident command processes would each hospital use to mobilize staff and other resources in the situation described in the exercise?
  • Which patients needed to be transferred to specialty hospitals to receive care for their injuries?

Coordination between FDNY and hospitals was critical to the success of this exercise – it supported interfacility transfers for patients who required specialty care or to better match hospital resources with patient needs. During the exercise, I met with FDNY leadership from EMS and Office of Medical Affairs physicians, and leaders from NYC Emergency Management and the Health Department at the Fire Department’s Operations Center. There, we tested the communications between hospitals, FDNY, and a volunteer pediatric intensive care physician who was trained to assist FDNY’s Office of Medical Affairs to prioritize patients for urgent interfacility transfers.

Measuring Success

Hospital Incident Command leadership discusses the availability of resources to make more pediatric beds available.
Hospital Incident Command leadership discusses the availability of resources to make more pediatric beds available.

This exercise revealed that 28 NYC hospitals were able to rapidly and dramatically increase their pediatric critical care capacity. It was the largest exercise NYC has done that was focused primarily on caring for injured children. During the exercise, these hospitals:

  • More than doubled the number of beds in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and added 1,105 pediatric inpatient beds, so children could stay in the hospital for an extended period of time
  • Opened 203 operating rooms that could treat children who needed surgery

During the exercise, we also identified some challenges, including

  • More than half of the hospitals did not have enough supplies that could be used to treat critically injured children
  • A limited number of pediatric specialists, including doctors who could perform brain surgery on children as well as ear, nose, and throat specialists
  • Hospital resources (beds, supplies, and staff) would have been further strained if the disaster scenario had also included large numbers of adults

We were able to identify ways to improve each hospital’s process and further develop our citywide plans to respond to any emergency that strains our healthcare system. As a pediatrician and a parent of two young New Yorkers, I’m grateful that so many dedicated people are working together to make sure that city and hospital plans account for the unique needs of children in disasters.

The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene receives federal funds used to support state and local public health and healthcare system preparedness through the aligned Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) – Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement. NYC used HPP funds to fund the NYC Pediatric Disaster Coalition to design and conduct the exercise, and coordinate participation of hospitals in the exercise.

Read our other National Preparedness Month blogs:

Preparing for the Worst-case Scenario

"ROTTERDAM, HOLLAND - SEPTEMBER 5, 2010: Demonstration of handling of car crash victim by medics at the annual World Harbor Days in Rotterdam, Holland on September 5"
New York City completed a functional exercise to help the city’s hospital system prepare for emergency medical personnel to treat and transport children, like this young girl, after a catastrophic event.

Setting the Stage

Celia Quinn
Celia Quinn, MD, MPH CDC Career Epidemiology Field Officer assigned to NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Imagine this: Explosions across New York City target elementary schools. Hundreds of severely injured and traumatized children, teachers, and parents flood hospital emergency departments in the five boroughs. Municipal emergency medical services (EMS) are rushing to respond.

Fortunately this scenario wasn’t really happening – it was part of an exercise conducted on May 25, 2017. The exercise was designed to test the ability of the New York City (NYC) Healthcare System to respond to a massive surge of pediatric trauma patients, exceeding the usual resources of this large and complex healthcare system.

Identifying the Players

As a CDC Career Epidemiology Field Officer assigned to NYC, I worked with the experts in the Pediatric Disaster Coalition and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). We designed an exercise that reflected the number of injured children who would need to go to the hospital and the type of injuries they might experience if a similar event really happened.

NYC has 62 acute care hospitals that participate in the 911 system. Of these, 16 are level 1 trauma centers designated by the NYC Department of Health  (this includes three pediatric level 1 trauma centers and 4 burn centers). A total of 28 hospitals care for pediatric patients and have, during the past seven years with the assistance of the NYC Pediatric Disaster Coalition, developed pediatric-specific components of their overall disaster plans to prepare them to receive pediatric patients from an incident like the one invented for this exercise. All 28 hospitals participated in the exercise.

Coordinating Resources

Hospitals who participated in the exercise were challenged to rapidly respond to more than 60 simulated patients with a range of injuries and conditions:

  • a 7-year-old boy unresponsive after a traumatic injury to his head

    Hospital nursing leadership reports on the status of nursing staff, while the hospital’s Public Information Officer looks on.
    Hospital nursing leadership reports on the status of nursing staff, while the hospital’s Public Information Officer looks on.
  • A toddler with burns to the face, chest, and abdomen
  • A 12-year-old distraught after witnessing another child lose arms in an explosion

Hospitals had to assess the resources that were available to care for the patients, including

  • What nursing and specialty staff could be made immediately available?
  • What medications and equipment, including imaging equipment and burn supplies, were needed to care for the children?
  • What communications and incident command processes would each hospital use to mobilize staff and other resources in the situation described in the exercise?
  • Which patients needed to be transferred to specialty hospitals to receive care for their injuries?

Coordination between FDNY and hospitals was critical to the success of this exercise – it supported interfacility transfers for patients who required specialty care or to better match hospital resources with patient needs. During the exercise, I met with FDNY leadership from EMS and Office of Medical Affairs physicians, and leaders from NYC Emergency Management and the Health Department at the Fire Department’s Operations Center. There, we tested the communications between hospitals, FDNY, and a volunteer pediatric intensive care physician who was trained to assist FDNY’s Office of Medical Affairs to prioritize patients for urgent interfacility transfers.

Measuring Success

Hospital Incident Command leadership discusses the availability of resources to make more pediatric beds available.
Hospital Incident Command leadership discusses the availability of resources to make more pediatric beds available.

This exercise revealed that 28 NYC hospitals were able to rapidly and dramatically increase their pediatric critical care capacity. It was the largest exercise NYC has done that was focused primarily on caring for injured children. During the exercise, these hospitals:

  • More than doubled the number of beds in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and added 1,105 pediatric inpatient beds, so children could stay in the hospital for an extended period of time
  • Opened 203 operating rooms that could treat children who needed surgery

During the exercise, we also identified some challenges, including

  • More than half of the hospitals did not have enough supplies that could be used to treat critically injured children
  • A limited number of pediatric specialists, including doctors who could perform brain surgery on children as well as ear, nose, and throat specialists
  • Hospital resources (beds, supplies, and staff) would have been further strained if the disaster scenario had also included large numbers of adults

We were able to identify ways to improve each hospital’s process and further develop our citywide plans to respond to any emergency that strains our healthcare system. As a pediatrician and a parent of two young New Yorkers, I’m grateful that so many dedicated people are working together to make sure that city and hospital plans account for the unique needs of children in disasters.

The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene receives federal funds used to support state and local public health and healthcare system preparedness through the aligned Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) – Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement. NYC used HPP funds to fund the NYC Pediatric Disaster Coalition to design and conduct the exercise, and coordinate participation of hospitals in the exercise.

Read our other National Preparedness Month blogs:

Empowering Kids to Make Their Families Safer

American-Red-Cross-volunteer-with-pillowcase-in-Alaska_BLUR

After graduating from college I moved to Anchorage, Alaska for a year of post-graduate service through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps NW and AmeriCorps. I served as the Preparedness and Casework Specialist for the American Red Cross of Alaska. Though often overlooked, Alaska is the largest state in the country (more than twice as big as Texas!) and has more coastline than the rest of the United States combined. While a large portion of the population lives in Anchorage, dozens of Native Alaskan villages are scattered all across the state, often hundreds of miles apart.

Education in action If I learned one thing about disaster preparedness education, it’s that you never know when your students will need to put what you taught them into action. I specifically remember one Friday afternoon teaching a group of students on the military base about what to do during an earthquake. We discussed various scenarios such as what to do if you are sleeping or playing at recess when an earthquake occurs. Two days later, a 7.1 magnitude hit the Anchorage area in the middle of the night, one of the larger earthquakes the area had experienced in a few years. The next morning, the teacher contacted me to tell me about how the students were able to use what I had taught them just days before to stay safe during the earthquake. This reaffirmed my belief of the value and effectiveness of The Pillowcase Project and educating students about disaster preparedness.While in Alaska, I spent a good portion of my time managing The Pillowcase Project, a Red Cross youth preparedness program for students between the ages of 8 and 11. The program educates children about how to prepare for emergencies they might experience in their communities. Since the program started in Alaska, The Pillowcase Project has reached youth all over the state and has even crossed the Arctic Circle!

Pillowcases are not just for pillows

During Hurricane Katrina, a Red Crosser noticed college students were carrying their belongings in pillowcases as they evacuated to emergency shelters. Their actions inspired The Pillowcase Project, which uses an everyday household item to hold the necessary items for an emergency kit. Putting all of these supplies in one place makes it easier to grab and go in the event of an emergency.

The Pillowcase Project has reached over 800,000 children both nationally and globally. Trained instructors, mostly volunteers like me, share the curriculum with children in schools, after-school programs, summer camps, scout groups, and various venues.

Beyond the standard preparedness education curriculum, students decorate a pillowcase with symbols that are personal reminders of things that make them feel safe and brave. They are instructed to fill it with emergency essentials such as a first aid kit, flashlight, batteries, spare clothes, and a toothbrush. We also encourage students to include a comfort item such as a favorite stuffed animal or photographs of their friends and family to provide additional support during a stressful time. We also teach coping skills such as breathing exercises and positive visualization techniques, so our students know how to stay calm in stressful situations.

Learn. Practice. Share.Pillowcase Project education session in Los Angeles, CA

Research from FEMA shows that one of the best ways to promote family preparedness is by educating children, who then feel empowered to share what they learned with their families. It is often difficult to convince adults of the negative impact a disaster could have on their family and how important it is to be prepared. This is why The Pillowcase Project seeks to educate students; 8-11 year-olds who are able to accurately relay information and comprehend the curriculum to share it with others. The curriculum centers around three pillars:

  • LEARN. Kids learn about the types of natural disasters that are most likely to happen in their community or neighborhood. In the case of Alaska, we focused on earthquakes and home fires.
  • PRACTICE. We talked through different scenarios that were tailored to the children in the group, because one child might live in a trailer, one on the 7th floor of an apartment building, and one in a two story house.
  • SHARE. We always encouraged the kids to go home and share the information and skills they have learned with their family and friends. The kids I worked with were always so enthusiastic and excited to tell people about what they had learned, which makes this a very proactive preparedness education program.

Sounding the Alarm

7 people are killed in a home fire, and another 36 people are injured every day in the United States.No matter where or what kind of home you live in, you are at risk of experiencing a home fire. That is why every child educated through The Pillowcase Project learns home fire safety and prevention, not limited to how to properly maintain a smoke alarm to how to safely get out of a burning home.

Red Cross volunteers and partners all across the country install free smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms, and help families create escape plans. This year, this Sound the Alarm effort will install its one-millionth smoke alarm. An impossible feat without the dedication and passion of those who believe in the value of disaster preparedness education and prevention.

Learn More

Read our other National Preparedness Month blogs: