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Students at Van Meter learn how to be safeFeb 18, 2013 (Los Gatos Weekly-Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- If you look behind your computer or TV, what do you see A bunch of tangled cables It's a land-based phenomenon that building inspectors refer to as an "octopus." It's also something students at Van Meter Elementary School learned about recently during a presentation by the Peninsula Chapter of the International Code Council. Los Gatos' chief building official, Mike Machado, was on hand, holding up a mess of extension cords and telling students "this is what we call an electric octopus. As soon as you put the leg of a chair on the wires, and if the chair is on carpeting, heat can build up and start a fire." Peninsula ICC members started disseminating their safety message at local schools last October. "Adults are so inundated with information that we find providing information through kids is very effective," program founder Tony Falcone said. "It's through the mouths of babes." Falcone is Santa Cruz County's chief building official. The program at Van Meter was geared to the second- through fourth-grade classes and included training on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. "You should really know what these sound like," Susan O'Brien said, holding up a smoke detector. "You hear it's a three-beep pattern. How many of you make sure the smoke detectors have batteries Tell your family members to make sure there are batteries and it makes the three-beep sound." O'Brien, who heads O'Brien Code Consulting in Campbell, then discussed carbon monoxide detectors. "This is going to detect gas that you can't smell and you can't see," she said. "This is going to be four beeps. It's really quick." The children also learned about swimming pool safety. "Make sure your pool gate is self-closing properly," Patricia Kutzmann of Fremont-based Kutzmann and Associates advised. "When you go home, check that so no one falls into the pool." Kutzmann said swimming pool accidents are the second leading cause of death among children. The ICC programs are usually one hour in length, but to accommodate all the Van Meter kids the program was split into two 30-minute segments. At the end of each one, the students were asked to raise their right hands and take the "Junior Building Inspector" oath. "As a junior building inspector I promise to do my best to help keep my home and family safe," the kids intoned. "I will work with my family to make sure my home has working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors." To ensure the children take the safety message home with them, each child received a bright yellow hard hat and a coloring book featuring safety puzzles, quizzes, scrambles and crosswords. To book a school presentation, email Susan O'Brien at obriencode@gmailcom. Visit iccpeninsula.org for more information. Copyright 2012 San Jose Mercury News. All rights reserved. ___ (c)2013 the Los Gatos Weekly-Times (San Jose, Calif.) Visit the Los Gatos Weekly-Times (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com/los-gatos Distributed by MCT Information Services |