Author: carolyn

In 2011, laws passed almost simultaneously in many states required the installation of carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in most houses, apartment buildings, rental dwellings and hotels. Since most CO alarms have a lifespan of no more than 7 years, yours might be expiring right now.

Old units lose efficiency and can put your family at risk of fatal CO poisoning. CO is invisible and odorless, so an early warning from a working CO alarm is crucial. CO can be created when fuels used in heating and cooking equipment don’t burn completely. Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

Some questions you should ask yourself:

1. Do I have enough CO alarms (and smoke alarms)? The US Fire Administration recommends installing CO alarms in a central location outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of your home (including the basement).
2. Do all alarms comply with manufacturer instructions and current guidelines about their shelf life? Check the manufacturer’s recommendations (usually on the back of each unit) for how often your CO alarm will need to be replaced. It’s usually 5 to 7 years.
3. Do I know that every alarm—both CO and smoke alarm—is working? Even units that have life-long batteries or are hard-wired still need to be checked at least every six months. The US Fire Administration suggests checking each alarm once a month. Learn how to test your CO alarm here.
4. Will everyone in your home always respond immediately and appropriately when any alarm activates? Have you planned your escape route? Have you practiced it? Could everyone do it even if the alarm sounds in the middle of the night?
5. Can everyone living in my home hear every alarm from any location—especially from their bedrooms? For those that have significant hearing issues, bed shakers and strobe lights can supplement alarms. For all homes, interconnected alarms are recommended. You can convert existing units, both smoke and CO, to be wirelessly interconnected using products available in stores and online. Learn more from manufacturers First Alert and Kidde.

This fall Prevention 1^st trainers delivered the first sessions of the Leadership Development program in fire safety which they developed for the Girl Scouts of Western New York (GSWNY). Sessions held in Rochester and Buffalo, NY drew 34 Scout Cadets, from 6^th-graders to 12^th graders, eager to learn leadership and fire safety skills. They will each now present 3 training sessions with younger Daisy and/or Brownie troops.

“This is a chance to up their leadership skills and be role models for younger girls,” said Lauren Bush, Assistant Director of Girl Experience for GSWNY. “And fire safety is so important, it’s good for them to hear it from their peers. As leaders, as adults, we can tell kids these things about fire. But when they hear it from their slightly older peers, it really sticks.”

“They were so enthusiastic and committed to playing a role in their community,” said Bob Crandall, Prevention 1^st trainer. “For that age group it was very impressive.”

The Prevention 1st training will count toward the senior Scouts’ leadership awards, and toward the younger Scouts’ play safe! be safe! Fire Safety Education patch. Training sessions were held on a day off from school, with some entire troops attending as well as individual girls interested in the training. The Rochester session was sponsored by the John F. Wegman Fund and the Buffalo session by Prevention 1^st.

Molly Clifford taught the girls strategies for teaching younger children and presentation skills to keep their audience engaged and learning. Bob Crandall presented the specific fire safety skills they would need to teach the younger Scouts, drawn from the curriculum of the play safe! be safe! fire safety program. The girls then worked in small groups to develop and rehearse their own presentations.

“They came up with creative ways to be “hands on” with skills,” Crandall recalled, “like using newsprint to make “smoke” and then demonstrating the correct way to Stay Low and Go under smoke.”

Bush hopes that as the younger Scouts learn, they will later step up to do the same training for others:

“There’s no better way to show their leader skills. It’s a “pay it forward” skill.”

P1st_November_2018_Newsletter

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If you assume you’d know what to do if a fire happens in your home, listen to the Oct. 13 podcast featuring Dr. Robert Cole, fire safety expert, on House Smarts on radio station WABC-AM (start at 26 minutes in).

Lou Manfredini, the show’s host, recalled a friend who had a fire on her stovetop:  “Her initial reaction was to grab the pan and take it out of the house. All she did was spread the fire.”

When something unexpected happens like a fire, or the smoke alarm going off in the middle of the night, it can be hard to remember what to do.

“Without having thought things through, people can make the wrong choices,” said Dr. Cole. “We need to get people to think that a fire can happen to them, think about what they would do, and practice.”

His most important tips:

1. Have working smoke alarms on every level of your home, and be sure everyone in the home can hear them.
2. Everyone in your home needs to know what to do if the smoke alarm goes off, especially if that happens at night when people are asleep. It’s important to be able to get out quickly.
3. You need to practice your home escape. First, to be sure everyone can do what they need to do to get out safely (especially important when young children, older adults, or people with disabilities are part of the household). And if they’ve actually practiced, then in an emergency they will have that memory of what they should do.

“The risk of fire is real, and these are reasonable things to do to prepare,” said Dr. Cole. “You don’t want to be the family that gets caught off guard.”

Prevention1st.org has many Safety Resources, especially for families with children, to help them understand the risks and stay safe from fire, including Homefiredrill.org, a website to help you plan and practice your escape.