This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Nationwide Insurance. The opinions and text are all mine.
Do you practice fire drills at your work? Do your kids practice fire drills while at school? You’re probably saying yes to both of those questions, but how about doing those drills at home? I’ll be honest, my oldest child is 18 years old and we’ve never done one drill. If you’re one of the families that practice those drills at home, I commend you for doing it. As a family, we have talked about what to do if the lights go out or if a tornado were to hit. Despite hearing about or seeing house fires all the time, most families don’t bring it up with their kids. We all know that house fires can take place anytime, but they’re more common in the fall and winter months. October 14,2017 is Home Fire Drill Day and below are some things to help with your family.
Know Where to Go
First thing you want to do it pick a place that’s safe and a nice distance from your house. You don’t want everyone scattered everywhere and have you wondering if everyone escaped. When talking with your kids, let them know that if the smoke alarm starts beeping, get out the house QUICKLY!! The safety spot you talked to them about, tell them that’s the “meet-up spot.”
Checking the Smoke Alarms
Then, check your smoke alarms. Let them hear the sound so they know what to be listening for if that time comes. Working smoke alarms reduce your chance of dying by 50% in a home fire, which is astonishing. Make sure you have one on every level of your house and in all bedrooms, you can never be too safe.
Doing the Actual Fire Drill
Have your kids in their bedrooms before you begin the fire drill. Most likely, this is the place they’ll be if an actual fire was to take place. If you have kids under the age of 6, have an adult assigned to them for their safety. For the drill, put one adult in charge of sounding the alarm and running the drill. Sound the alarm, start the timer and have everyone run to the designated safety spot. You want to be out of the house and at the safety spot in about two minutes. If everyone makes it by that time, that’s great and if not, try it again to perfect it because your lives could depend on it. In case a real fire occurs, get to your safety spot then call 911 and stay together the entire time until help arrives.
Grab the Make Safe Happen App
First of all, this app is available for either iPhone or Android so everyone should download it to their phone. The Make Safe Happen app offers a room-to-room safety checklist and links to recommended products. The app lets you create to-do lists, set reminders and track the progress you’ve made. This is an app you’ll use and need, plus it costs you nothing to download it.
