Wednesday is a Safety Drill—Talk to Your Kids About it

All the public schools in Los Angeles Unified School District is going to have a safety drill at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Some of the children may be "tagged" as injured, and teachers will be checking on the children, counting them, making sure everyone is OK, and figuring out how to get help.

The drills prepare staff and faculty when something happens for real, like a storm, an earthquake or  or other emergency.

Some of the schools have the option of doing the drill at a different time of the day, but generally, all the public elementary schools in the area, Rio Vista, Carpenter Community Charter, Colfax Charter, Valley View, Riverside, Sherman Oaks and Toluca Lake Elementary Schools; and Walter Reed Middle School and Milliken Middle Schools and North Hollywood High School are on board to do the drill.

Especially for the younger children, it can be a bit disconcerting. 

sent out these words of help for parents:

The goals of the training drill are to improve our ability to protect students, save lives, and reduce injuries. As part of the drill, the students and staff will participate in the activation of our school's Safe Schools Plan.Prior to the drill, please discuss with your child your family's home preparedness plan.

The district Superintendent of Schools has asked all students and staff to participate in the drill. Students will be dismissed at the regular time on this day.

Principals also encourage families to discuss their own emergency plans.

You can obtain Red Cross materials in English or in Spanish from their web site:http://www.redcross.org or by calling the Los Angeles Chapter at (213) 739-5200. Your telephone directory also has valuable information on first aid, CPR and home preparedness.