The goal of the presented study was primarily to investigate through a questionnaire, distributed in several countries among teachers and early childhood experts, the self-preservation capacity in pre-school children. The second purpose was to create an overview regarding young children behavior in case of an evacuation, adult/children ratio, fire alarm system in day-care institutions, stuff training and fire drills.

A total of 87 participants answered an online survey which collected data for this project, 62 teachers and 25 experts from the USA, Germany, Denmark, Romania, and Canada.

The work has the following findings:

  • When between 30 and 36 months, children are considered capable of understanding and following simple instructions.

  • When children are less than 24 months old, they are expected to walk on a horizontal plane without assistance.

  • When between 24 and 30 months they are expected to walk down the stairs.

Regarding children’s behavior in case of an emergency, teachers and experts have differing opinions. The largest share of teachers answered “24–30 months”, while the experts answered “36–42 months”, to the question concerning the age at which children will not become upset by unusual events. The reason for this difference is the practical versus theoretical experience which the two profession categories have.

When looking at the adult-child ratio, there is a clear difference between children’s age groups, with young children needing extra assistance during an evacuation procedure from staff members by carrying or hand holding. This shows the importance of there being enough adults present in order to help children to evacuate.

A big difference between countries was found with respect to the fire alarm systems installed, the training of the staff and number of executed fire drills. A change within the fire regulations and guidelines would be needed in order to change the situation in Europe.