Nationally recognized safety and health expert Debra Holtzman has released a list of 10 tips to protect children and pets during a home emergency.
Holtzman is the best-selling author of “The Safe Baby: A Do-it Yourself Guide to Home Safety.”
Security dealers and installers can provide the following tips to help customers make preparations for a home emergency.
1. Install smoke alarms on every level of your home and in every sleeping area. Change batteries once per year; test them monthly; replace the units every 10 years. Plan escape routes and conduct fire drills with the entire family. Find two ways out of each room.
2. Buy a noncombustible escape ladder (for multilevel dwellings). Make sure it supports the heaviest person in the home. Become totally familiar with the manufacturer’s instructions on how to safely use the ladder. Practice climbing out from a ground floor window.
3. Buy multipurpose fire extinguishers: Install in the kitchen, basement and workshop area. Take the time to learn how to operate the equipment before an emergency strikes. Use the extinguisher for only small, confined fires. While you are extinguishing a small fire, have other family members exit the home and telephone the fire department.
4. Install battery-operated carbon monoxide (CO) alarms or plug-in CO alarms with battery back-up. Install a CO alarm in the hallway near the bedrooms in each separate sleeping area. In addition, place one at least 15 feet from any fuel-burning appliance. Remember, the proper installation, operation and maintenance of all of fuel-burning appliances is the most important factor in reducing the risk of CO poisoning.
5. Assemble a fully stocked disaster supplies kit. Include nonperishable foods, water, prescriptions and necessary OTC medication, manual can opener, flashlights, radio and batteries. Your kit should contain, at a minimum, a three-day supply. Store kit in easy-to-carry containers, like duffle bags. Include essential items for pets, too.
Designate a room in your home that will serve as a safe room. A big closet or interior room would be ideal; a hallway or bathroom will work as well. Try to use a room with no outside walls or only one outside wall and small, if any, windows.
6. Purchase a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radio. A NOAA radio broadcasts national weather service warnings, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day.
7. Assemble a fully stocked first aid kit. Include a first aid manual, nonlatex gloves, bandages of several sizes, antiseptic wipes and sharp scissors. (Holtzman recommends adults and teens enroll in a first aid and CPR class.)
8. Post a list of emergency numbers near every phone in your home. Include the National Poison Hotline, (800-222-1222), police, fire department, pediatrician, dentist and family doctor. Also, include the telephone number of a friend or relative living outside of the emergency area. A caller is more likely to connect with a long-distance number outside the emergency area than with a local number within it. Be sure to program emergency telephone numbers into all phones.
A free copy of Holtzman’s emergency preparation sheet can be downloaded at www.thesafetyexpert.com.
9. Install a hard-wired telephone. Regular phones that plug into a standard phone jack get power from the phone company (which has emergency generators to power the telephone network), not from the power in your home. So, if the power goes out, the phone will probably still work. Portable phones and cell phones may not be reliable during a power outage and after major disasters.
10. Invest in a monitored home security system. (At the very least, install audible alarms or tones on the doors and windows, which lets you know when someone enters or leaves your home.)
Holtzman also recommends that you take these additional steps to protect your family from a home invasion: Have solid-core doors for all entry points and equip them with good quality deadbolt locks. Use motion sensor lights near or around entry points. Install a peephole in your front door and use it before opening the door. Consider getting a dog with a yappy bark, which can scare away intruders. And be sure to thoroughly check references of people who work for you.
