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Description

A hands-on session around a small supervised campfire where young people learn what to do if a fire starts, how to react if their clothes catch alight, how to call the emergency services, and what to do if someone gets a burn. Young people also get a safe, supervised go at feeding the fire, and build a simple family escape plan.

Resources

• Small campfire, built and supervised by a Section Team member
• Water bucket or fire extinguisher, positioned nearby
• Sticks for feeding the fire
• Chalk or a whiteboard, for the escape plan activity
• Cold flannel, or access to a cold tap, for the burn-cooling demonstration
• Wet weather alternative: a torch with red cellophane, or a battery tea light, if moving indoors

Instructions

1. Gather the group sitting down at a safe distance from the fire. Explain that fire is brilliant for cooking and warmth, but it needs respect — we always sit down near it, never run, and never touch it.

2. Practise stop, drop and roll on the grass away from the fire. Ask what they'd do if their clothes caught alight, and get everyone to have a go.

3. Talk through what to do if there's a fire at home: get out, stay out, call 999. Never go back in for toys or pets, and never hide under a bed or in a cupboard.

4. Ask the group what number they'd call and what they'd say. Practise together: 999, ask for the fire service, give your address.

5. Teach what to do if someone gets a burn: cool it under cool running water for a good long while, tell a grown-up straight away, and never put on ice or creams.
• Stage 1 Emergency Aid: explain the three steps back to you in their own words.
• Stage 2 Emergency Aid: actually demonstrate cooling a "burn" using the cold flannel or running tap under your supervision, talking a partner through it as they do it.

6. If time allows, cover smoke alarms (why every home needs one, testing them monthly), getting low under smoke, and checking a door for heat before opening it.

7. With your hand guiding theirs where needed, let each young person place a stick on the fire, talking through what they're doing as they do it.

8. Draw out a simple house shape. Ask the group where the front door is, where the bedrooms might be, and where the family would meet outside. Each member adds one thing to the plan.

9. If there's time left, run through the scenario game: read out a short situation and get a thumbs up (safe) or thumbs down (not safe) — for example, "you smell smoke, so you check under your bed" (down), "your top catches fire, so you stop, drop and roll" (up), or "you put ice straight on a burn" (down).

10. Close by asking each young person: what do you do if your clothes catch fire, what number do you call for the fire brigade, and what do you do for a burn?

Wet weather: Move inside, swap the real fire for a torch under red cellophane or a battery tea light, and lean the whole session on the drills, stop-drop-roll, the burn-cooling demo (using a flannel and a sink or bowl of water), and the escape plan.

Tags

• campfire
• campfire safety
• Fire Safety
• holme-valley-scouts

Badge Links

• Emergency Aid - 999
• Emergency Aid - 999
• Emergency Aid - Burns
• Safety - Emergency services
• Safety - Fire Safety