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FIRE SAFETY PROGRAM

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Dialing 911 for Kids
Seconds count during an emergency. Everyone needs to use 9-1-1 properly to get quick help during a fire, medical emergency or a crime. This is especially true for children. They can, and must be taught how to correctly use the 9-1-1 system to save a life. Follow these guidelines to teach children the proper way to use 9-1-1 to report emergencies:

Fire Prevention Week
Fire prevention week is held nation wide during the second week of October. We start off with a Stop, Drop and Roll. "Don't Play with Matches" and "Stay Low and Go" program for the preschool and kindergartens. A little more in-depth program is presented to the first graders.

Spaghetti Dinner
Every year during the Heritage Day celebration, the Fire department holds a annual spaghetti dinner. It has grown every year. Along with the dinner the public has an opportunity to see our equipment along with equipment from other agencies. In the past we had special guests..

CPR Instruction
The South Milwaukee Fire Department is one of only a few training sites for CPR in this area. Our department has five American Heart Association certified instructors. Several classes are offered to the public every year as well as certification for the South Milwaukee Police Department, South Milwaukee Recreation Department, Health Department, Boys Scouts, Nursing homes, and other health care workers just to name a few.

Fifth Grade Fire Safety Course
At the beginning of each calendar year, department members of the Public Education Committee schedule all 5th grade classes for a 5-6 week course in fire history, 911 and false alarms, home fire escape plans, chemistry of fire, home hazards, fire extinguishers and more. A South Milwaukee Fire Department certificate of fire safety is issued for each student completing the course.

Eighth Grade Volunteen Program
Working with the South Milwaukee Middle Schools career program, the fire department has the only program in the state that puts students through an actual hands-on firefighters training course. We take 16 students a year (8 per semester), and have them do hands-on fire extinguisher training, use hose lines, rescue drills, physical agility test, public education display, and basic knowledge of EMS, house duties, and equipment maintenance. This helps the student understand and realize how demanding the fire service is.

Fire Extinguisher
Throughout the year businesses call to schedule training classes for their employees, businesses such as Cooper Power Systems, Appleton Electric, Bucyrus International, and Kindcare are some of the places we provide this service to.

Fire Department Station Tours
Fire Department tours help educate people of all ages on the inner workings of the Fire Department. On an average over 1,000 citizens tour our department every year, many not knowing how involved and busy the fire department really is.

Business and Commerce Fair
The business fair is a two-day event usually held in the spring at the South Milwaukee High School. During the fair the fire department showcases some of our equipment, show videos, hand out informational materials, answer questions, and puts on a demonstration to show our skills.

McDonald's Safety Day
With the help of McDonalds, the South Milwaukee Fire and Police Departments, a safety display is put on for the kids and adults alike. Our department is on hand to show off our equipment, answer questions, and remind our citizens about fire hazards around the home. McDonalds also puts on the Ronald McDonald Safety Show for the kids.

Survive Alive House
In October, all 5th grade students take a trip to the fire department. Here they practice the techniques and safety procedures taught to them during the 5th Grade Safety Course. All South Shore Fire Departments use the mobile house. It is maintained and stored at the St. Francis Fire Department. This house has two bedrooms (upper and a lower) and a hallway that the students practice how to get out alive in case of a fire. To operate this house requires a minimum of five firefighters. One for each bedroom, for instructions, one in the control room, which controls the smoke machine, smoke alarms, and exhaust vents, and one firefighter at each window which is the students secondary exit should the first exit be blocked.

Flame Houses
The flame house is a 6'x6'x4' plywood house. This is a chance for the kids to put out a house fire. There is a simulated flame hinged to the top of the house and, with the supervision of a firefighter, the child uses a fire hose to put the fire out.

Blood Pressures
The Fire Department is open for the public to have their blood pressure taken. The public is welcome to stop by any day of the week between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for this free service. The Fire Department keeps track of all blood pressures of citizens who wish to have a record. EMT's and Paramedics are always on hand to answer any questions the public may have about their health.

Senior Fire Safety Course
The South Milwaukee Fire Department provides training and awareness classes for all of our nursing home residents. This includes a Jonathan Winters Fire Safety video, which most of our senior citizen enjoy and can relate to. We are also there to try and answer their questions about senior safety.

Juvenile Fire-setters Program
Our program currently utilizes an educational curriculum established and introduced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the United States Fire Administration (USFA) that is structured to involve both family oriented fire safety education and juvenile fire-setting behavioral assessment. This behavioral assessment is used to determine the motivation behind the fire-play or fire-setting behavior through the understanding of particular facts and pieces of information. Our main goal is to educate the entire family, especially the children, on fire safety. If a determination is made that further counseling is required, we can and will direct them to an organization or agency that can help.

Get Out and Stay Alive
This program is for high school seniors who are getting ready for college dorm life. It refreshes the students memory on fire safety and shows how to get out alive if a fire would occur while in the college dorms.

EMS Week
The South Milwaukee Fire Department acknowledges "National Emergency Medical Services Week" with a poster contest, "What 911 means to me", for all third graders. All posters are displayed in various parts of the city. The winners of the contest win a dinner at the firehouse with their families.