LAFAYETTE, La. (KATC) — It's every parent's worst nightmare: getting separated from your kid in all the Mardi Gras commotion. So what can you do to ensure it doesn't happen, and if it does, everyone ends up safe and sound?
Lafayette Consolidated Government, in partnership with the Lafayette Police Department and Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, will once again have lost child stations posted throughout the Lafayette parade route this year.
According to Lafayette Police, Mardi Gras festivities will be heavily monitored as usual. Officers will be stationed throughout with help from deputies with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office. The lost child stations are there if you and your little one get separated, but here are some helpful tips you can implement in a worst-case scenario to help keep your child safe.
1. Make sure your child has the phone number of a trusted adult memorized. In an emergency situation or separation, they could forget it, so it's best practice to write that name and number on a slip of paper or on their arm anyway.
2. Walk your child through the parade route and show them where lost child stations will be posted. Let them know that it is a safe place they can go if they are separated.
3. Talk with your child about trusted adults. Come up with a secondary point-of-contact they can refer to if, for some reason, you are out of reach when separated.
4. Remind them to remain calm when separated. Panic can lead to lapses in memory and more complications when it comes to reuniting them with you or a loved one.
5. Make sure the phones of all responsible adults are fully charged before reveling, along with those belonging to children and teens. In an instance of separation in a large crowd, you do not want to have a dead phone, especially when trying to get into contact with one another. If possible, bring a mobile battery pack or charger.
KATC is your Mardi Gras Headquarters. For all things Carnival Season, keep it tuned to TV-3 on the air, online, and on the free KATC mobile app, in your iPhone App Store and Google Play today.
