An Edmonds family reflected on how they dealt with the false alarm sent by Hawaiian authorities.
“You don't know if it's real or not. So you just have to go with it and assume the worst,” said DJ Wilson, a father whose family was vacationing on Oahu Saturday.
The family spoke late Saturday night after they landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
“We are all going to die at first because I was so scared," 11-year-old Karsten remembered thinking.
Wilson said he and the other adults went into crisis-mode.
“The message at the time was this is not a time to mess around,” he said. “At that time you just want to prepare them and give them actually something to think about and something to plan for so that they're not wandering mentally… not worrying about things they don't know and just sort of give them a task.”
After 38 minutes, there was word it was a false alarm.
“It was, like, a bunch of relief,” said Karsten.
DJ said he’s looking for resources to help his family move forward with the possibility of mental side effects, like PTSD.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has these tips to help children during and after a crisis.
