A couple of days ago my 2 1/2 year old daughter and I got to go on a tour of a local fire station. It was an outting planned by our playgroup.

Amidst the fun of "driving" a real fire truck and putting out a pretend "fire" with a real firehose, the kiddies got to learn a really important lesson. Firemen in uniform look like big bananas (not monsters), and if you see one in your house, don't hide, give him a hug. Apparently firefighters have a hard time rescuing kids from fires because the kids see them as scary monsters and hide.

One of the firemen got all geared up while the kiddies were watching so that they could see what each piece of the uniform was and how even when all geared up with the face mask and chirping thingy and everything, he was still a regular person. The uniform was yellow so they told the kiddies that the firefighter would look like a giant banana when he was all geared up. Then when he was all dress up, they invited the kids to touch him.
Then they explained to the kiddies how if a fireman all dressed up like that visits their house, he is really friendly and they should go give him a hug (and not hide!).

When seeing the fireman with all of his gear on (especially the mask and the chirpy thing) I could see how a kid could easily be frightened of the "monster", especially in an already scary situation like a house fire.

I was proud of my girl as she was the first one to shake hands with the fireman when he was all geared up. A few of the other kids were too scared to shake his hand, but I think that they benefited from the experience and if they end up in a fire will be less likely to hide from the firemen.

If you have young children who have never seen a fireman in full gear, it might be a good experience for them to go on a tour of a firestation and see one.

-Kuovonne

good idea...............
Except "Hug a banana" won't work

In France, firemen are mainly dressed in black or dark blue, with a silvery helmet.
Yes, I can understand young kids being afraid under such circomstances by the arrival of an giant black insect-like monster.... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Yeah - here in NYC, bunker gear is black, with retro reflective stripes, and the firefighters name across the back of the coat

But almost all the schools also do a tour of the firehouse, and show the guys all geared up. My daughter is old enough (JUST short of 9) that it's not a big problem, and my son thinks fire gear is COOL.

... another gear-head !!!
let me guess whom (?) he get that from .... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Your son is right.

Fire gear is cool. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Ah, Grandpa? He's more of a gearhead than I am ( wonder where I got it from )

Speaking about kids and fire safety, Studies have found (and a local TV station has demonstrated) that conventional smoke dectors with their ear-splitting alarms do not usually rouse children (including young teens) from a sound sleep. Those that awakened are usually frightened or confused by the sound. A new type of smoke dector allows the parents to record warnings and instructions in their voices. The children recognize their parents voices easily and will follow the recorded instructions well. It was very interesting to see (and hear).


Stay Safe,

JimJr

Damn it so that's what I been doing wrong... If firemen are bannanas that would make me a blueberry... Not good. Not good at all.

I happen to be a big yellow bananna. One of the biggest problems in fires are children. For two reasons one that kids don't wake up, the voice detectors are supposed to work, although the detectors that I have also seen work are "horns and strobs". This brings us to another problem kids will often hide when scared, and they find the smallest hiding spots. I fire I was recently in a kid was hiding on a shelf in a closet. He wasn't going to come out for the big thing sounding like Darth. If it wasn't for the Thermal Imaging Cam I would have ever found the kid.
Please if you have kids please get them around fire fighters in gear, the give the loud breathing bananna a hug is great. Also find escape routes, at least three, and go over them with your children. Lastly if you can make sure your bedroom is on the same floor as the kids, at least young kids.

Sorry for the long rant

We wear a kind of tan, but here's what we do at the schools.

Every year, we go to the schools, and all the kids meet me as a regular guy. Then we pass around my SCBA mask and let the kids see what it looks like. Then I gradually gear up and they see each step. Then I do a crawl with air on, and I teach them to respond when I yell "FIRE DEPARTMENT! ANYONE HERE?" to yell back "HERE I AM!!!" and I pay "deaf" and over and over, I get them used to responding.