Month: August 2017

There are many ways to prevent a fire from breaking out in your home. From keeping an eye out for unexpected fire hazards to installing smoke alarms, there are many precautions to take that will keep your home and loved ones safe. But unfortunately, fires do still break out. That’s why it’s important that you and your family know how to stay safe during a fire.

In 2016, U.S fire departments responded to 352,000 home fires. If a fire breaks out in your home, here are some tips on how to stay safe:

React

If you hear the smoke alarm, MOVE. Do not grab belongings or personal items. Try your best to exit the premises. It’s important to react quickly, but try to stay calm. Panicking will only make the situation worse.

Find a Safe Exit

To make sure the door is safe to exit through, look for smoke under the door. If you don’t see smoke then place your hands on the back of the door, if it is cool then it is safe to exit. If the door is hot, then DO NOT exit from this door! Try to escape from a window.

Stay Low

Smoke inhalation is a dangerous side effect of fires we don’t often think about. Smoke inhalation can make people disoriented or cause a person to become unconscious. It can also cause significant damage to your lungs.

To protect yourself from smoke inhalation, get low by crawling or crouching, and cover your mouth and nose with some sort of cloth.

Stop, Drop & Roll

If your clothes catch fire, immediately stop, drop, and roll. This is the quickest way to smother the fire. Cover your face with your hands while rolling to protect yourself.

Ward Off Smoke

If you can’t escape, then go into a safe room and ward off the smoke while you wait for help. Close the door, then cover all cracks in the doors and vents with a wet cloth. From there, you can figure out how to get help.

Get Away From the Structure

When you’ve made it out of the house, get as far away from the structure as possible. Even when you make it outside of the house, a structural fire is very dangerous.

Take a Head Count

Once outside, take a head count to ensure everyone has made it outside. Also take a moment to do an injury assessment, and do what you can to address any injuries.

Call 911

If no safety vehicles have arrived by this point call 911. If you weren’t able to grab your cellphone, go to a neighbor’s house and call from there.

To prevent accidents or injuries, create a fire safety & escape plan with your family in case an emergency incident occurs. You should also test your smoke alarms every month, and when necessary, replace batteries immediately.

Following these steps and understanding how to stay safe during a fire will increase your chances of survival in the event a fire breaks out. But taking preventative measures will decrease the chances of a fire occurring at all. Learn how Sonitrol security systems can keep your home and family safe from fires or home invasions.

With the school year starting back up, your kids may be returning home from school before you have finished working. Once children reach a certain age or level of maturity, it is normal for them to return home to an empty house. As a parent, it’s natural for you to worry about your kids staying home alone.

Luckily, there are ways to ensure your children are ready to be at home by themselves. Below are some tips on how to prepare your children for being home alone.

Start Small

Rather than throwing your child into long afternoons home alone, begin with short periods of time alone in the house. Let them stay home while you run a quick errand before letting them stay home alone for a whole afternoon. This will act as a sort of test-drive to let you know if they’re ready.

Create a Daily Routine

Once you’re comfortable with your kids staying home alone, it’s important they follow a schedule. They should take the same route home from school everyday, whether they are walking, riding the bus or carpooling. You want to make sure your child knows exactly how to get home.

Once they are home, they should settle into a routine to follow everyday. This may include locking the doors, resetting the security system and settling into their afternoon tasks like homework or chores.

Create an Emergency Plan

Before leaving your child at home by themselves for the first time, explain to them what to do in case of an emergency. Emergencies to prepare for include a fire, an approaching stranger, an injury or a severe weather storm.

Create Rules for the Phone

Whether your child has a personal phone or a house phone, set rules for when and when not to answer the phone. Explain the use of caller ID and keep a list of emergency phone numbers readily available. Remind them never to let anyone on the phone know they are home alone.

Explain Stranger Danger

Teach your children the importance of not speaking to strangers on the way home from school and to never open the door to strangers at home. Remind them to always check to see who is at the door before opening it.

Teach First-Aid

Show your children exactly where your first-aid kit is and what to use in case of various scenarios.

Staying home alone comes with risks. That’s why it’s important to make sure your children are fully prepared, and following these tips will ensure their safety. As your kids become accustomed to staying home they will become more responsible and trustworthy.

Want to add an extra level of protection for your children staying home alone? Contact Sonitrol today and learn about our verified home security systems.

Keeping your home up and running can feel like a full-time job. In between laundry, cooking, cleaning, and keeping up with life in general, keeping up with the smoke detector can fall pretty low on the list. But if an emergency, you’ll wish you had known how to perform a home safety check-up.

Remembering to do a few safety check-ups can easily slip your mind, so consider this your reminder on how and what to check up on in your home. You should be checking up on these things once a month or so. That may seem like a lot, but it can save you time and money in the long run.

Follow these steps and you’ll know how to perform a home safety check-up in no time:

Test Smoke Detectors

First of all, test both your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. You want to make sure that there’s nothing wrong with them and that the batteries are still alive. A few minutes out of your day could protect you and your loved ones from fires and poisoning.

Check Flashlights and Batteries

In the emergency kit you (hopefully) have for your home, there should be a flashlight or two. Take a few minutes to make sure that the flashlights and extra batteries you packed are still working. It’s not a bad time to make sure that the rest of your kit is holding up, too!

Inspect Fire Extinguishers

Make sure you can easily access your fire extinguisher, and that the locking pin is intact and the tamper seal has not been broken. Check out the extinguisher itself for signs of corrosion or leakage. Lastly, take a look at the pressure gauge to make sure that it is still in the operable position.

Check Switches and Outlets

If your switches or outlets are not working, it could be bad news for your home. Faulty wiring is a big fire hazard, and not working is just one of the signs of wiring gone wrong. If the switch or outlet is warm, discolored, or noisy, then there’s probably something wrong with your electric system. Have a professional come check it out and make any necessary repairs.

Replace Frayed Cords

Lastly, take a look at your electric cords and make sure that they are all still looking good. Frayed cords are a major fire hazard, especially depending on their location. When cords are smushed underneath furniture or behind the curtains are dangerous. Look around about once a month to make sure that’s not the case for your wires. If cords have frayed, replace them as quickly as possible.

Knowing how to perform a home safety check-up could make all the difference in preventing hazards from occurring in your home. Keep your home, family, and possessions safe by performing a comprehensive home safety check-up once a month. Want to learn more about protecting your home and family? Contact our Sonitrol security specialists today.