How to Run Disaster Drills

As a licensed family child care home, you are required to run a fire drill and an emergency drill at least once every six months. You must also keep a log of these drills; download the template below and keep it on record in your Licensing binder. 

Fire Drills

Fires may break out in your facility or in an adjacent building or approach from a nearby forest or other fuel source. For a fire drill, the goal is that adults and children vacate the building (home) as quickly as possible in a safe and orderly manner. This means you should evacuate and temporarily relocate.

• Evacuation
• Evacuation means everyone leaves the building. There are no exceptions.
• Your evacuation plan must provide for everyone, including infants who can’t yet walk and children with special needs.
• Consider your home layout carefully when creating an evacuation plan. (For example, if you have 3 infants and need to go down stairs, how will you accomplish this?)
• During a drill, teachers and children file out of the classroom, and move toward the designated temporary relocation site.
• Everyone, adults as well as children who are old enough, should know how to proceed to and out of these exits.
• Temporary relocation
• Your temporary relocation site is listed on your Emergency Disaster Plan (LIC 610A). You completed this form during you license application and it should be on file in your Licensing binder and displayed on your bulletin board.
• Make sure to bring your emergency backpack; it should contain a child roster with photos so that you can easily take a roll call.

You should also practice evacuation and temporary location in the case of flooding. Flooding may occur in your building from a break in a water main or a leaky roof or immediately outside your building from the flooding of a river or other body of water. You will need to assess whether it is safe to evacuate during a flooding emergency.

Earthquake Drills

Earthquakes may cause minor damage to your facility or major and widespread damage to your neighborhood and city and also fires and floods. For earthquake drills, you should practice sheltering in place 

• Sheltering children and staff at your facility
• Adults and children should practice moving away from and turning backs away from the windows. Get down low on the ground. Teachers can cover children with their own bodies. Alternatively, teachers and children move under tables.

Immediately following a catastrophe, once you are in a safe place with the children, please call all parents with an update.