Important Actions in Emergency Situations Children should Know!

By : Ni Putu Ayu Puspa Yuliandari

In the period of growth and development, children are very active in playing and learning. At home, parents should be able to supervise their children in their activities but not all parents can accompany their children while at home. This means that unexpected events can happen to children when they are at home, whether they are with their parents or not. Parents must be able to teach their children about the importance of emergency action in these situations.

There are two terms of action during an emergency that children must know, fight and flight. First is fight. Fight is a situation where children are facing or able to handle situations by themselves. Here, children should be taught how to give first aid in dealing with emergency situations such as scratches from falling or itching due to insect bites. Children can also fight when the situation threatens them, for example, when they see a fire. They can fight by dousing the fire with water. If they already know what they have to do, then the children will be able to fight to save themselves.

The second is flight. Flight is a condition where children flee away or cannot handle a problem. They have to ask for help from someone else. If the children are at home, parents must tell the location of important objects such as telephone, phone books, and door locks. These objects will be very important when the children are in a flight situation. In addition, give them an example situation so that the children understand better how to take action. For example, if children see the fire getting too big, teach children to keep calm and tell them to ask an adult for help. They can also suggest that the children call an important person, such as a family member or an emergency hotline for the police or firefighters in the phone book, to deal with the problem.

Unexpected situations can come at any time. However, when parents have taught these two terms of action to children, parents can be calmer when leaving or not watching them play at home. Another benefit when children know the fight or flight rule is that children can save someone around them too.

Reference:

Ang Kai Ling, S. F. (2018). My Pals are Here!: Health Education (International) Pupil’s Book 4. Marshall Cavendish Education.