Experts on Fire Safety: Do Your Children REALLY Know What To Do When Your House Is On Fire?
Bill Driscoll, a top expert in home fire safety for over 25 years, is a member of the Educational Section of the National Fire Protection Association since 1986. He has been invited to speak to over 1,000 groups on home fire safety and is the author of numerous manuals. Visit http://detech.com.
Did you know what the most common thing children under the age of 10 do in case of a home fire? If you said hide, you are correct. It is an instinct for children to hide from the fire, just the same as many farm animals will not run out of a burning barn. That is their home and where they feel comfortable. Today, firefighters are trained to look under blankets, under beds and in closets for children, because they know they will want to hide when they are scared.
During a survey my company conducted a few years back regarding home fire safety, hundreds of children were asked what they would do if they woke up in the middle of the night and noticed the house was on fire. Over 80% of the children under the age of 10 said they would stop, drop and roll. That is scary!
Is stop, drop and roll the right thing to do? We have done such a good job teaching children to stop, drop and roll if their clothes are on fire, that is has become the only thing they think about and relate to fire. Obviously if they really did that, the results could be catastrophic. The worst part is that most of the parents just sort of shrugged it off and then said the kids are taught that in school.
When pushed a little further, the kids then say that they knew that if the house is on fire, they are supposed to get as close to the floor as they can to crawl out. WOW, that is wrong too! Yes, that is what was taught when we were kids, and still is in many schools today, but that could be DEAD wrong. There are dozens of different deadly gasses prevalent in modern fires from all of the synthetics and petroleum based products in our homes and some of these gasses are heavier than air, so they settle at the floor. They are invisible, so you can’t see them, but they are there in almost every fire and many can kill you almost instantly.
When it comes to escaping from a burning home, no parent should just leave it up to others to teach the kids about fire safety. It is up to each of us to be sure the kids know exactly what to do, to practice it and then review it several times per year. Most experts agree that to make the proper escape from a home fire a habit for the kids, we must practice 4 times per year. And when I say practice, I don’t mean just talking about it either. We must physically practice our escape, so it becomes an instinct.
1. Get the whole family together 4 times per year to physically practice your escape route, including gathering at your meeting place a safe distance from the home.
2. It is important to practice crawling on your hands and knees, not your bellies, as some poisons produced by smoke are heavier than air and settle to the floor.
3. If you have an escape ladder, practice using it by climbing out a first story window, so everyone can know how it works before you need it.
4. Consider installing removable people locators on windows of occupied bedrooms, so rescuers know which room someone is in.
5. Be sure you have a complete and reliable fire alarm system that covers every room of the home and will alert you to both flaming and smoldering types of fires, so you will be sure you have the maximum time to escape.
Remember, not all homes, families and fire alarms are created equal. Be sure you take action now, so you know you have done everything you can to give your family the advantage when your fire occurs.
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