Tot-Finders label “antiquated”
Ted J. Pagels
Fire Chief (ret.)
Director, Administration and Management Division ISFSI
This refers to the Letter to the Editor on the tot-finder label in the September 1997 issue. Are these stickers really still used? Way back in 1980, the old Fire Safety Educators Section of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, recommended banning them because they give a false sense of security.
With the directions given in the September letter, one could conclude that the sticker would have to be changed each time the bedroom was rearranged. What happens in a bedroom with two windows or two beds? What happens when the child sleeps in another room or has a sleepover and everyone is in the family room or elsewhere? What about two siblings sharing a bedroom?
What happened to knowing about E.D.I.T.H. after your smoke detector sounds? So some departments still train on looking for tot stickers instead of doing a thorough, systematic search of the entire structure? What happens when Junior goes off to college and the sticker is now on the window in mom`s new computer room?
Let`s continue to train and teach what does work–working smoke detectors, how to get out of your home, and firefighters searching the entire structure. Thinking a tot sticker is going to save your child is antiquated and wrong U.
