Have a plan and think safety on a parade route, Capt. Charles Borchers tells audience at NASA’s Michoud

Capt. Charles Borchers had a simple message for employees at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility: Have a great time at parades celebrating Mardi Gras but think about your family’s personal safety and avoid being a crime victim while distracted by having fun.

“Have your mind on what you are doing – you may be in surroundings outside your comfort zone – and think about what you would do if there were any emergency,’’ Borchers, head of Community Relations for the Sheriff’s Office, told safety professionals of Jacobs Technology on Feb. 6.

The company maintains and operates the multi-tenant, 832-acre site at Michoud for NASA in eastern New Orleans.

Mardi Gras parade safety was the topic of the program and Borchers had specific recommendations.

“Watch where you park,’’ for a paeade, he said. There have been scams where people who don’t own vacant lots take money to let you park there but “when you come back your car is gone because it was towed by the actual owner,’’ Borchers said. Also, if you don’t park in an appropriate spot, your vehicle could be towed by authorities.

Make a point of leaving your wallet and jewelry home and bringing in a side pocket a little cash, a credit card and an I.D., making yourself less of a target to thieves, Borchers said.

Tips to keep children safe:

He said watch children carefully and never leave them unattended. It can be easy to get separated in a crowd.

Borchers also said, “Make sure a child knows their name, cell phone number for a parent or guardian, and their address. If they do not, write it down on a card or piece of paper, place it in their pocket and make sure they know to find a police officer and give them this information if they become separated from you.” Show them a near-by officer on the street or introduce them to the officer so children know an authority figure to go to if necessary.

Also, choose a spot for everyone in a group to know they should go to if anyone becomes separated.

Do not let children climb on top, over or under barricades. If children are using ladders to see parades, make sure the ladder won’t topple over or get pushed over by a crowd and throw a child or adult under a float or other vehicle. To help do that, it is safest to place a ladder as far from the street curb as the ladder is high, Borchers said.

Last July, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann visited NASA’s Michould Assembly Facility – part of the Marshall Space Flight Center – where from 1973 to 2010 the Space Shuttle’s External Tanks were constructed.