When a fire strikes, there’s no time for mistakes because it can take less than two minutes for smoke fumes to overcome a child or an adult. Create an escape plan for your family and know what should be avoided. Hold a fire drill twice a year.
Safety Tips
- If possible, plan two ways out of every room.
- If one of your escape routes is through a second- or third-story window, invest in a safety ladder.
- If you sleep with your bedroom doors closed at night, have a smoke detector in each room.
Exit Procedures
· When you hear the alarm, roll out of bed onto the floor. Get down on your hands and knees, crawl to your door and touch it with your hand.
· If the door feels cool, brace it with your body and open it just a crack to check for smoke. If there is none, leave by your planned escape route. Remember to keep low. Don’t stop for clothes, papers or valuables. Keep your head down to avoid the smoke. Crawl under low smoke.
· Meet at a prearranged place for a head count.
· Never go back into a burning building.
· It’s important to go over your fire escape plan with your family in advance. Make sure everyone knows the local emergency phone number. Guests as well as your family should know the sound of your smoke detector’s alarm and be familiar with your plan of escape.
· Make sure babysitters practice fire and burn safety tips, especially the use of safety ladders, escape routes, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and emergency phone numbers.