Not because we are fostering, but because of a tragic accident a few weeks ago in the area they live. We sleep on the second level of the house and should there be a fire, I imagine it could easily prevent us from using the stairs to get to the main level where our only exits are.
Ironically, our home fire inspection is tomorrow at 4pm and I think the Fire Marshall is going to be very pleased with the fact that we have an escape ladder!
I think I said a few weeks ago that I had printed our evac. plans...well, let's just say, I had good intentions to finish and print them. But today, I can honestly say that they ARE printed. See, those images prove that they're done. They've even been updated to include the new ladder.
How did I create our evac plans? Well, I have an unfair advantage. It's kind of what I do for my 9-5. I have access to software, editing, printing, etc.
If you don't have all that though, you can definitely hand draw the plan. I recommend using a large solid line for the exterior walls, with thin lines to represent interior walls. This helps make the plan easy to read. You can easily see the breaks in the thick black exterior wall line, making the exits stand out better. Red is obviously a good color choice for EXIT text and highlighting other areas that you have in your home, that might be established as "safe" or "go to" locations, can be helpful as well.
I didn't extend this to the exterior of the home, although...in future plans, I might. I think it would be great to establish a central gathering location outside. This way all individuals can be easily accounted for.
For us, this seemed like a silly exercise. We plan to foster babies/young toddlers. I don't imagine many of them will be reading evacuation plans. That said, our house is now much safer for not just ourselves, but overnight guests. And actually, how many of us take the time to draw an evacuation plan for our preschool aged children? Now, we won't have to worry in a few years!
