While you might like to think and hope that you and your family will never have an emergency at your home, the reality of life is that things like fires could happen at any home at any time. Knowing this, it’s important for the safety of not only your family, but everyone in your neighborhood, that you have a plan for how you’ll respond to an emergency such as a fire. So to help you come up with a plan for your family, here are three tips for creating a home fire escape plan.
Learn How To Stay Safe and Calm
One of the most important things you can learn and practice in preparation for a potential house fire is how to stay safe and calm in the face of danger. This is especially vital if you have children at home who may become scared or hide in a dangerous situation. According to Rachel Aydt, a contributor to Parents.com, learning techniques like getting low and crawling toward an exit or testing a door by touching its handle is a great way to ensure you don’t get yourself in a more dangerous situation when attempting to evacuate during a home fire. By practicing these principles, you may be better prepared for the actual event.
Come Up WIth Escape Routes
Aside from knowing the basics of how to stay safe when there’s a fire in your home, you should also create a specific escape plan for your family to follow. As part of this, the American Red Cross recommends that each person in your home knows of at least two ways to get out of every room, as one exit might be blocked by the fire. Also, you should decide on a place outside of the home where everyone will meet once they’ve been able to safely evacuate the home. Once you have your plan in place, make sure everyone who lives in your home knows the plan and the role they play in it.
Practice Your Plan
When you’ve solidified your plan, it’s now time for you to practice it. By running occasional fire drills, you’ll be able to see if there are things you haven’t thought of or if there are parts of your plan that won’t work in the real event of an emergency. According to the National Fire Protection Association, walking through your plan will help ensure that everyone can open the windows to their room and that they are clear on all escape routes without the threat and stress of an actual fire being present.
If your family doesn’t currently have a fire escape plan, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you prepare one.
