Family Home Safety Plan

The following are recommendations for developing a Family Home Safety Plan, each home has a variety of unique characteristics that require each homeowner to develop a plan best suited for their Family & Home.

Things to consider when developing your Home Safety Plan;

• Have a "Family Meeting" try to make it fun and serious at the same time, this can actually be a great family experience.
• Discuss dialing 911 in an emergency situation, practice staying calm and providing the correct information.
• Make sure everyone understands to get out of the house immediately.
• Determine the closest exit route for each room.
• Discuss and review alternate escape routes in all rooms.
• Determine a meeting place outside the home.
• Install an adequate amount of Smoke Detectors and regularly test them.
• Allow everyone to hear the sound of the smoke detector alarm to familiarize them with the sound.
• Practice the plan, set off the Smoke Detector and have everyone practice their escape routes.
• Determine how often your family will review and practice the plan, a minimum of semi annual practicing is recommended.
• Install Fire Department Window identifiers for children's rooms.
• Install approved Type-A B C fire extinguishers on every floor of the house and educate everyone on the proper operation.
• Locked doors can be tough to unlock in a smoke filled room. Be sure to install door locks that can be easily unlocked in an emergency. Doors that require a key to exit may be trouble during a fire.
• Make sure each member of the family practices unlocking the door.
• Stay low, heat and smoke rise to the top of the room.
• Learn and practice the stop drop and roll method.
• For multi-story homes a fire escape chain or rope ladder is recommended with sufficient training.

Keep adding to your Family Home Safety Plan and practice often!