Press release from the American Red Cross:
Seven times a day, someone in this country dies in a fire. Working smoke alarms cut the risk of death from fire in half. Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend, and the American Red Cross reminds everyone to TEST the batteries in their smoke alarms as they TURN their clocks back an hour.
Sixty percent of fire fatalities occur in U.S. households without any working smoke alarm. (Source: https://strategicfire.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Ahrens-Smoke-Alarms-in-US-Home-Fires-1.pdf)
“You may have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home before it’s too late to get out safely,” said Alli Trask, executive director, American Red Cross serving Western North Carolina. “Working smoke alarms increase the odds of escaping a fire safely by 50 percent. That’s why we urge our neighbors to make sure they have working smoke alarms. Every minute counts.”
There are a few safety steps you can take today to help save lives and keep your family safe:
- INSTALL/CHECK SMOKE ALARMS:
- If your home doesn’t have smoke alarms, install them. At a minimum, put one on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Local building codes vary, and there may be additional requirements where someone lives.
- If you do have smoke alarms, test them today. If the batteries don’t work, replace them. If your alarm is more than 10 years old, replace it.
- HAVE AN ESCAPE PLAN:
- Make sure that everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of the home in less than two minutes.
- Practice that plan twice a year.
- BE INFORMED
- Learn what emergencies may occur in the area and how officials notify residents should a disaster occur,
- Take a First Aid and CPR/AED course. (https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class)
- BUILD/CHECK EMERGENCY KIT
- If you have a kit, take time now to make sure everything in it is still good and accurate.
- If you don’t have a kit, build one. For information on what to include, visit www.redcross.org/kit.
- DOWNLOAD THE RED CROSS EMERGENCY APP
- More than 35 emergency alerts to help keep you safe. Included are tips for what to do before, during, and after a disaster.
- Search American Red Cross on your smartphone
- Visit to redcross.org/apps.
Visit redcross.org/homefires to find out more.
Consider becoming a Red Cross volunteer. Discover the opportunities at redcross.org/volunteer. Donate blood. Visit redcrossblood.org for location nearest you. You can also help by donating to Red Cross Disaster Relief by visiting redcross.org/donate, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Donations to Disaster Relief will be used to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.
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