Installing smoke detectors is essential to helping alert the household members before they become trapped or overcome by smoke in a fire. The essential next step is to decide now, before there's an emergency, just what your family will do when the alarm sounds. To safeguard your family, take the following steps to develop and practice your escape route now. Without a fire escape plan, children may hide or look for their parents instead of exiting to safety.
1. Draw a plan. Begin by drawing a complete floorplan of your home. Mark all possible escape routes. Each room must have a primary exit route and an alternate route, possibly a window in case the door is blocked. Draw a primary escape route in green. Alternate routes in yellow and dead ends in red. Try to imagine problems that may arise in difficult areas of the house or due to the specific needs of an individual. Designate which family member will help infants or immobile persons to safety.
2. Make sure windows are designated as escape routes and make sure they open easily. Store portable fire escape ladders in easily accessible locations in the second-story bedrooms.
3. Be sure everyone knows how to work locks, deadbolts, and escape ladders. If window bars are used in any room, these should be removable from the inside of the room in a child's bedroom. If your family lives in an apartment, be familiar with the stairways and fire exit locations. Never plan to use an elevator as part of an escape route. Elevators use electricity and may stop and trap you if the power fails. They may also open their doors at a floor where the deadly fire is present.
4. Designate a meeting place. Pick an outdoor meeting place. If a fire occurs, every family member must know to go immediately and stay there. This will prevent wasting time in deciding what to do or in looking for other household members once outside. Stay outside. When everyone is at the meeting place, call the fire department from the neighbor's home or a nearby phone booth, or cell phone. Don't assume 911 is the emergency number in your area. In some locations there are different numbers for emergencies. Call directory assistance for your local police and fire department to find the appropriate number before an emergency strikes.
5. Tell children fire fighters are friends. If you have very young children, show them a picture of what a fire fighter looks like when dressed in fire fighting gear. Children who do not know may hide in fear from them during a fire. Explain the fire fighters are there to help. Arrange for your children to visit the local fire department. Many stations have fire safety education classes for kids or will arrange a visit to your school or organization for a fire safety talk.
6. Try pretending certain exits are blocked so the family members will have to use alternative routes. During the drill, practice exiting the house by crawling low to the floor where the air is easier to breathe. After the drill, review what occurred and discuss any problem in the following escape routes. Correct those problems and practice again.
7. Prepare now. Let everyone hear the smoke alarm and explain what it means. Practice and discuss your plan. Each family member and call providers should know how to escape various parts of the house safely. Small children need to understand they must get out of the house, not hide under the bed or in the closet. Make sure windows can open and practice exiting through them.
8. Place fire escape ladders in a second-story sleeping room; make sure everyone knows how to use the ladders. Practice putting one out a window, then let each family member practice exiting on the ladder from the first floor window.
9. Keep bedroom doors closed at night. A closed door will slow a fire and help keep out dangerous gases and smoke. Smoke detectors should be located in every bedroom. Keep a rechargeable flashlight next to the bed as thick smoke from the fire can inhibit visibility.
10. Know what to do in a real fire. If you awake to a fire, roll out of bed, don't stand up. Crawl low to the floor to exit. If possible, close the door tightly behind you as your move towards your exit. Move away from danger. The best escape route is the one that moves continuously away from the fire. Thick smoke, flames, and heat area most intense and unpredictable the closer you are to the fire. Never attempt to run through a fire. Use and alternate route or remain where you are rather than risk injury or death by moving closer to the fire. If trapped, stuff towels, sheets, or rugs around the door in the bottom of the door to keep smoke our. Close the door between you and fire. If there is a telephone, call your emergency number. Tell the dispatcher exactly where you are, indicating the floor and the room. Wait near a window and signal for help so rescue workers can find you. Use a flashlight or wave a sheet or a light-colored cloth.
Working hard to serve you better:
Szeszulski Agency....
Jerry Szeszulski
(Shoe- Shell-Ski)
wk 918-254-2578 x227
Cell 918-808-6656
http://finsecurity.com/xs2243
Jerry Szeszulski is an insurance expert heard on The Future of Real Estate News/Talk 740 KRMG from 12:30 - 1:00 and KFAQ from 7:00-8:00 on Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jerry offers money saving expertise for homeowners to apply to their homeowner's policies. Email your insurance questions to: Jerry@TulsaHomeAuto.com
