Did you know there are more than 6,000 false alarms go off in the United States everyday?
This past summer my kids set off the fire alarm in our home due to too much smoke in the shower. The local fire department was dispatched. Thankfully, everyone was safe. The kids were confused that smoke in the shower could impact the detector. It turned out to be a great teaching moment for my children to take alarms seriously. Please help your family and those you know live safe by teaching them to apply good judgement and treat alarms seriously. Also, please share with them the importance of practicing home Fire Drills.
WATCH THIS VIDEO PSA on the importance of False Alarms!
Fire Drills—How, When Tips
Do you routinely practice home fire drills? Here’s a quick and easy guide to get you started:
1) Where: Answer–everywhere. Each month, on a set day of the month, pick a new location to practice evacuating from until you’ve covered the entire house, then start over.
2) How: From the room you are practicing from, consider the following: Rescue: Who/what should you rescue from this room if it is the one you must get out of? Which doorway? Which window? What if one or the other is blocked? Use a red towel to symbolize the fire line, and then have your family figure out a safe escape. Alert: Where in this room can they find a way to alert the rest of the family? The fire department? Contain: What can they use in this room to try to contain the fire? Where is the closest extinguisher? Are there sprinklers? Smoke alarms? What do they sound like from that room? Extinguish: Is it possible?
3) When: Monthly…from at least one room in the house. Also, try it in the middle of the night at least twice a year…who does the smoke alarm wake up? Who sleeps through? Whose job is it to be whose buddy?
4) Have a meeting place outside the home, safely away from the building. Where is it? What do you do if someone is not there? Remind the family that no one goes back in…the fire department is trained to do this and will as soon as they arrive…so stay together.
These are the basics. For more info, read the book!
Guest Author: Candace A. Quinn, “I Survived a House Fire…I wish my stuff had!”
Tags: Alarms, Drills, fire safety, Sprinklers
