GREAT FALLS — Thousands of people are in town for the Montana State Fair, which can also bring out every parent's worst nightmare - losing track of their children in the crowd.
"Probably one of the biggest things that we deal with is people getting separated from their children," said Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter.
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When separation happens, Slaughter says parents have a point of contact to go to.
"First thing you do is calm them down. We try to bring them back to our command center. Make sure they're taken care of. We also usually bring them back here because it's the most likely place the child will go to find them," Slaughter said.
Slaughter encourages parents to take necessary steps to ensure kids' protection.
"I encourage parents, if you're going to bring your young child to the fair, make sure you're with them at all times, you know, supervising them and making sure they're safe," Slaughter said.
Parents have their own plan of action when it comes to the safety of their kids.
"We have four kids with us, and we have three adults, so each adult has we all have cell phones, and we take turns with the kids if we have to step away," said Trina Meyer, Great Falls resident.
Communication is the key in staying together.
"We let them know where we're going to be and they let us know where they're going to be. We also have a, like a meet up time," Meyer said.
Parents are encouraged to teach their kids to use good judgment as anything can happen at the fair.
"The fair can be fun, but it can also be very dangerous. And they need to know the good parts, and they need to know what to look out for," Meyer said.
