Red lights and Sirens

When adopting a child into your family you need to consider that they may have had traumatic events in their past which could result in a variety of fears.  A few of our children were scared of anyone in a uniform and all emergency response vehicles, the sight or sound of either would put them into a state of panic.  The children although older in age were unable to tell us why they were fearful, but after piecing together their past we were able to come up with some ideas.

Helping the children with these fears meant teaching them that the emergency personnel and their vehicles are there to help us, along with working through the personal issues that happened, creating these fears.  We made a point of putting our children in positive situations where emergency personnel were present.  These situations ranged from going to our local garage where the police and fire vehicles are repaired and just walking near the vehicles, to arranging visits at the police, ambulance and fire departments, to attending Emergency Preparedness fairs and other community events.

At the most recent Emergency Preparedness fair we attended, we toured the ambulances, sat in the fire trucks, and met the police and their dogs.  Firefighters taught the children how to use a fire extinguisher and they had the opportunity to extinguish a fire.

  There was a group teaching road safety and the children were able to ride peddle cars while practicing their skills.  We also met the search and rescue people and learnt a little about what they do.                             

This was a fun non-threatening way to interact with people they once feared.  How have you helped your children work through their fears?             

shared at www.lovethatmax