Code Adam Alert The other day I was in Wal-Mart with my wife and little girl getting new tires for the car and we thought we might as well do a little shopping while we waited for the car to be ready. While we were shopping a call went out over the loud speaker for a "Code Adam" alert, which means a child had been reported lost and missing in the store. Employees who work in a store, which use the Code Adam response alert are trained to immediately stop what they’re doing, cover all the exits and begin a complete departmental search for the child until the Code Adam is canceled and the lost child has been found.

Being trained to respond in this situation and having taught it in our programs, we immediately took off down the isles to search for the little 2-year-old boy reported missing, scanning everyone we came in contact with to see if anyone looked out of place or suspicious who might be leading a child out the door fitting the description of the child missing. As I stepped up my pace and started searching I noticed several employees going about their business not giving any attention to the Code Adam alert and shoppers going on with their shopping not really paying any attention to the fact there was a lost child in the store. It made me aware of how complacent we can become in our daily lives that when something out of the ordinary takes place, we act like a deer caught in the headlights not knowing how to react or respond in an emergency situation or if we’re suppose to. When the Code Adam was called out over the loud speaker my first thought was where could the child be, so, I immediately begin to look around. Then as I started searching I begin to think about the parent and what they must be going through at that moment not knowing where their child was and no doubt in a panic to find their child. As I made my way to cover the doors and look outside just in case it was indeed a child abduction, the announcement came over the loud speaker to cancel the Code Adam that the little boy had been found. I’m sure every parent at one time or another has experienced that sinking feeling you get when you go to look for your child and you can’t find them. I remember one time my little girl was playing on her bed in her room and had pulled the covers up over her head to hide. When I went to check on her and didn’t see her, I immediately begin to call for her looking for her all over the house going from room to room. My heart just simply dropped for a moment when I couldn’t find her and then I heard her in her room playing and I knew she was safe. As a parent I feel it is the responsibility of us all that are caring adults to make sure our kids are safe, even if it’s someone else child who is in trouble. If you’re in a store and you hear a Code Adam alert go out over the speaker, STOP what you are doing and help look for the lost child until you hear the cancellation of the Code Adam alert. Begin an immediate sweep of the area you’re in and begin to work your way to the main doors looking down each isle. If you find the child immediately call out, “I have found a lost child” until an employee comes over to assist you. It takes only a few moments to find a child who is missing in a store, just as it takes only a few moments for someone to abduct a child from a store. Your help could mean the difference. While your searching get others involved in the search too. The more people who are looking for the lost child the quicker the child can be found. If you have any questions concerning the Code Adam alert response write to us, we’re always happy to share all the information we have, which might save a child's life. The Code Adam alert response was named after little Adam Walsh, who disappeared from a shopping mall and was later found dead in a ditch. Only little Adam's head was ever found, his body was never recovered. The man who killed little Adam Walsh was later caught committing another crime and died in prison. While he was in prison he offered the family to sell the information to where he had buried little Adam Walsh’s body. It is still uncertain whether or not he actually was indeed the person who took little Adam. The next time you’re in a store and you hear a Code Adam alert go out over the loud speaker, think of little Adam Walsh and get busy looking for the lost child missing. Find out more about Code Adam