Practising emergency drills at home

Under stress the brain finds it hard to come up with new solutions. People then fall back on routines they know. Anyone who has practised routes, actions and meeting points several times therefore acts faster and more calmly in an emergency than someone who has read the plan only once. That is the same reason schools and workplaces hold regular fire drills.

Drills are also the best test of the plan. Only when everyone actually sets off do you find that the front door is locked at night and the key hangs somewhere else, that the go bag is too heavy or that nobody knows where the cat is. Every gap you find is a win.

Start with an escape plan: a simple floor plan of the home showing, if possible, two ways out of every room, and a meeting point outside the house. Draw it together with the children. For the fire escape drill, first test the smoke alarm and then walk the route to the meeting point: check doors with the back of your hand before opening, stay low because smoke rises, close doors behind you. Practise once in the dark too.

For the go-bag drill, a stopwatch runs: everyone takes bags, documents, medication and pets and goes to the door. Afterwards ask: what was missing, what took too long? Depending on regional risk, add a shelter drill – in earthquake areas “Drop, Cover, Hold On” (get down, take cover under a sturdy table, hold on), and for a hazardous-substance warning close windows and doors, switch off ventilation, turn on the radio.

A nice drill for the whole family is an evening without power: light, food and entertainment without a socket. You do not have to turn off the power for this – it is enough simply not to use electrical devices. If you want to switch off the main switch, do so only if it is safely possible. At the end, collect what you missed.

Drills take place without real danger: no real fire, no smoke, no ladders out of windows, no jumping. Escape routes from upper floors are only discussed, not practised, and best clarified with the fire service. Rescue techniques from windows belong in the hands of professionals.

In a real emergency: get out at once, close doors behind you, do not go back, call the local emergency number (112 in the EU) from outside. Nobody goes back into a burning building – not for animals, not for valuables. If someone is missing, tell the responders.

The goal of a drill is confidence, not fear. Keep it calm and playful: who finds the torch first? Who knows where we meet outside? Praise small successes. Horror stories or realistic disaster scenarios overwhelm children and turn drills into something they want to avoid.

Announce drills at first, especially with small children. Later a drill can sometimes come as a surprise, but always in a friendly way. After each drill, talk briefly: what went well, what do we change? Then adjust the plan, list and equipment.

Drills need fixed dates, otherwise they are forgotten. A few times a year is enough, ten to thirty minutes each. Good occasions are moving to a new home, the start of the dark season or testing the smoke alarms, which is due regularly anyway.

The local fire service often advises free of charge on escape routes, smoke alarms and special situations such as flats on upper floors or households with people who need help leaving the building. Ready.gov also recommends making an escape plan with two ways out of each room and practising it regularly.