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Written by PHFPD Prevention
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Thursday, 25 March 2010 |
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Make sure your child is prepared for a fire.Create a fire escape floor plan:• Start by drawing a rectangle on a piece of paper. Draw one for each room of your home.Then draw in all doors and windows. Your children can use crayons to draw in beds, tables, etc.• In one color, draw a line that shows the fastest way out of each room. Then, in anothercolor, draw another line that shows the second fastest way out.• Now that you have your fire escape plan, make sure everyone in the family studies it.Know what to do in case of a fire:• Pick a meeting place outside of your home where everyone can gather after they haveleft the burning building.• Hold home fire drills and make them realistic by pretending some exits are blockedby smoke or fire. Hold your drills in the evening since kids can get disoriented in the darkand fires often happen at night.• Make sure everyone knows that once you’re out, stay out! Never go back inside of aburning building.• In case of a fire, get out first, then call the fire department with a portable, cell orneighbor’s phone.Escape tips:• Close doors behind you as you escape to slow the spread of fire and smoke.• If you have to escape through smoke, crawl keeping your head one to two feet abovethe floor, where the air will be cleanest.• Test doorknobs and spaces around closed doors with the back of your hand. If the dooris warm, try another escape route. If it is cool, open it slowly. Slam the door shut ifsmoke pours through.Things to think about:• Make sure babysitters and other caregivers know escape plan and where to meet.• Can everyone in your home — including children — unlock and open all doors and windows?• If your windows have security bars, equip them with quick-release devices, and teacheveryone in your household how to use them.• Test your smoke alarms once a month.• Replace alarm batteries once a year.• Replace any alarm that is more than 10 years old.
For more about fire safety, visit BeFireSmart.com
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 March 2010 )
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