Develop An Evacuation Plan
A home evacuation plan is vital to your family's safety, and knowing how to enact it can mean the difference between life and death.
Surprisingly, only about 25 percent of U.S. families have actually developed and practiced a home fire escape plan to ensure they could quickly and safely get out of their home or apartment in case of an emergency.
Please remember the following when creating your home evacuation plan.
- Every family member should know how to get out of the home in case of an emergency as well as who has responsibility for the very young and the elderly or infirm. Practice your evacuation plan. Practice escaping by each route; practice in the dark.
- Find at least two ways out of each room in the home if possible, and at least two ways to leave the building due to the possibility of blocked exits.
- If you live in an apartment building, know the evacuation plan.
- Firefighters emphasize that the family should agree on a meeting place after all have exited the home such as a mailbox, a tree near the street or some other recognizable place. Firefighters and rescue personnel want to know how many people were in the house or apartment and how many are accounted for at the meeting place.
- Teach family members that once they are out of the house during an emergency, stay out. Never go back in. Call 911 from a neighbor's home. Don't waste time saving property.
- Make sure family members know to leave the house immediately if the smoke alarm sounds; do not investigate to find out why it went off. Make sure everyone - including children - knows how to identify the sound of the alarm.
- Family members also need to be educated about what to do if they need to escape through a burning house:
- Crawl low under the smoke.
- Use the top of your hand to feel top of doors, doorknobs and the cracks between doors and doorframes to make sure fire is not on other side.
- If heat and smoke come in when you open the door, slam it shut and use an alternate route.
- If you are unable to leave the building, seal doors and vents with duct tape or towels to prevent smoke from entering the room.
- Open a window at the top and bottom so fresh air can enter; be ready to close the window immediately if it draws smoke into the room.
- Call the Fire Department and let them know you are trapped inside.
- Wave a flashlight or light-colored cloth to let rescuers know where you are located.
- Plan on how to take care of pets. With the exception of guide dogs, shelters usually do not allow pets.
- Learn how to shut off utilities such as gas, electricity, and water in the event of a gas leak.
- Identify neighbors who have special needs or will require special assistance.
- Develop self-help networks between families and neighborhoods through a skills and resource bank which lists tools, equipment, materials and members who have special skills and resources to share.
How To Create a Home Evacuation Plan
If a fire starts in your home, you need to know what to do. Any hesitation can be fatal. By preparing and practicing an escape plan with your family, you have a better chance of surviving a fire.
Making a family escape plan should involve all members of your family. So take the time to gather your family together to make a step-by-step emergency escape plan. Include children in the planning as well.
- Make a floor plan of your home.
- Find two ways out of each room and mark both ways on the floor plan. Discuss the best escape routes with each family member and remember that windows can be used as exits. Be sure all windows you plan to use as exits can be opened.
Things to think about while making your escape plan:
- Install smoke detectors on every level of your home outside sleeping areas if you don't already have them.
- If you live in a two-story home, consider purchasing escape ladders for each bedroom. Know how to use them and store them near the window. If the stairs are blocked with debris or smoke, the window may be the only means of escape.
- Make certain your house number is visible from the street in both the day and night to make sure the Fire Department can easily find your home.
- If your windows are equipped with security bars, make certain they have quick release devices installed and make sure everyone in the family knows how to use them.
- Test your smoke detectors once a month and replace the batteries twice a year. It is recommended that you change your smoke detector batteries when you change your clocks.
|
