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Family Safety
Summer is just around the corner and it is important to keep yourself and family safe!
-Make sure if you have a pool that someone is watching the children at all times.
- Don’t forget to wear sunscreen!
- Make sure you are always aware of your surroundings!
- Stay Hydrated!
As people begin to plan and start vacations as the summer months approach there are some things that you should think about with regards to preparing your home for when you leave. Make sure that your neighbors know that you are going on vacation and how long you will be gone. Ask a neighbor keep an eye on your home and grab your mail and newspaper for you so that they don’t pile up. You can also put your lights on timers so that it looks like you are home. Another thing that does help and probably over looked is trimming back your landscaping so that there are less places for people to hide. Something else you could do is spending the money on a live in house sitter. At least this way someone will be there if anything goes wrong.
So many parents today are in a hurry these days most households have two working parents and kids and usually some sort of after school activities. Most seem to not think about running into a store really quickly just to grab something. According to the GM Foundation President Vivian Pickard, 500 children have died since 1998 due to being left in hot cars in summer months as well as in the winter months.
Even in seemingly mild days, the temperature inside a car can rise 20 degrees in 10 minutes and leaving a window cracked really makes no difference in the temperature inside the car. As tough as it is at times to take children inside a store the grief and guilt of losing a child would far supersede how tough taking them in would be!
There have been a lot of reported cases of hidden dangers to our children that we may not have thought about. The one that stood out the most to me was our washing machines. A child left his mother’s sight for mere minutes. Yet that was enough time for her 21-month-old to fall into the top-loading washing machine and become submerged in a full tub. Washing machine-related injuries are more common than deaths, says Scott Wolfson, director of public affairs for the CPSC. Aside from drowning, children may suffer burns from hot water in the machine, or injuries to their limbs if they come into contact with a rapid spin cycle. Adding a safety child lock to your laundry room door or to the washer or dryer can dramatically cut down the risk to your child.
Unfortunately, we hear all too often about children getting their hands on guns or at the very least coming in contact with them. There are too many stories about kids bringing guns or weapons to schools. Devastating consequences have occurred because of children not being educated enough and have access to these weapons.
A father in Castle Rock decided that enough was enough. After all the horrifying stories about children being hurt or killed he decided to take an idea of a gun safety program to his children’s school. The administration embraced the idea and the father worked with an existing program that was developed by the National Rifle Association.
The program did not take a stand on gun ownership but it simple taught children what they should do if they ever came in contact with a gun. The program has come up with a very simple slogan for a child to remember: “Stop, don’t touch, leave the area and tell and adult!”
I know for myself, I’m now interested to inquire at my children’s school to see if there is such a program in place and if not I want to get involved to create one. Gun ownership is really not the issue. Its keeping our children educated and safe when it comes to them.
Although most people try to be careful in their use of appliances that are obvious potential fire hazards—stoves, range tops, irons—a surprising number of home fires are caused by faulty appliances of every kind.
According to research reported in Consumer Reports, millions of dishwashers, refrigerators and more are on recall lists. Alarmingly, more than 15 million appliances have been recalled in the past five years for defects that could cause a fire. From 2002 through 2009, the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) determined that a defective appliance was the primary cause of more than 69,000 fires. Of those, 23% are clearly related to mechanical, electrical or design problems in the household objects.
Here are eight ways to protect yourself and your home from appliance fires:
- Install fire detection equipment: Almost 2/3 of home-fire deaths occur in homes without working smoke alarms. You should have one in each level of your home. Also, consider installing an automatic security system that will alert you to a fire even when you are away from home.
- Register new appliances: Fill out the registration card that comes with your purchase and mail it to the company, or complete registration on the company’s website. This will ensure that you’re notified in case of a recall.
- Check for recalls: Go to www.recalls.gov to find out about recalls. If you move into a place with existing appliances, check for their make and model on the list. Also, you can review customer experiences and report a problem at www.saferproducts.gov.
- Inspect power cords regularly: Look for frayed cords and replace them. Never run power cords under carpets or furniture that may cause damage, including over-heating.
- Check your home’s wiring: Have a qualified electrician examine your wiring and get professional advice about what needs to be corrected and how. An upgrade might be expensive, but it could save your family’s lives.
- Practice kitchen safety: Never leave cooking unattended! If there are small children at home, make a kid-free zone of at least 3 feet from the stove and use back burners whenever possible. Always unplug small appliances (even coffee-makers) when they are not in use.
- Clear range hoods: Grease build-up in range hoods is a common fire hazard, so be sure to clean vents regularly.
- Keep dryer vents clear: Lint fires are another common cause of house fires. Clean your dryer’s lint screen after EVERY use. Use rigid metal dryer ducts instead of flexible ones (foil or plastic) that can sag and trap lint. Check them regularly for lint build-up.
New Safeguards Are Now in Place
Since the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) March 2011 launch of its consumer reporting website (www.saferproducts.gov) more than 850 consumer-generated reports about appliance fires have been posted. The majority of safety standards for appliances are voluntary, but if the CPSC feels these measures are not adequate, it can work to set tougher standards. Where compliance becomes an issue, even stronger measures can be adopted. The CPSC has authority to work with companies on recalls, but its power is limited and does not extend, for example, to setting safety standards for certain imported products.
Consumers Need to Be Involved
With 130 million households in this country filled with multiple appliances, the Consumer Reports’ analysis of 15 million appliances represents only a fraction of what is really happening. As a consumer, you need to protect yourself. In a 2010 consumer survey, a majority of people said they never or rarely mailed in product registration cards. And almost a third of people who owned a recalled product took no action at all! The CPSC website, through posting real consumer experiences, provides vivid detail about what people are experiencing.
In recent years, manufacturers have made significant design improvements to improve product safety. For instance—automatic shut-off on coffee-makers and anti-jamming mechanics on toasters. Such features are built in to avoid damage both to the appliance and to its users. However, consumer participation can make the difference between safety and danger when people come forward in public to report their complaints where they will be seen and heard by appropriate agencies, manufacturing companies and other consumers.
Hoarding is a serious condition. It not only poses great health risks it also poses great issues when it comes to fire safety. Hoarding fires are becoming more and more common according to fire officials in Tempe, AZ. Some hoarding situations are so bad that home owners can’t escape a blaze and fire fighters can’t get in to put the fire out. When items become stacked in rooms they become fuel for a fire and depending on what all is in the house such as chemicals, plastics, and debris can incapacitate a victim faster than if the home was clear of these items.
Hoarding fires have become such a problem that the Tempe Fire Department partnered up with the Gilbert Fire Department to start special hoarding training for the next couple of months to better prepare fire fighters in situations such as this.
How safe is your neighborhood? Do you feel that you can let your children play in front of the house? Do you always lock your doors when you leave or at night? What about your car? There is a surprising number of car break-in do to people having a false sense of security within their neighborhood. A lot more people than you may think leave not only their cars unlock in their drive-ways but also their homes.
People need to keep in mind that no matter how safe you feel within your neighborhood, thieves are opportunistic. They are looking for the easy target. All they have to do late at night is walk by to see if your car is unlock or test the handle of your car or home. In the end it is always best to lock the doors to your home and car. Do not leave personal items like keys or a wallet in your car or right in your front door on an entry table. Keep them in a drawer in your bedroom or kitchen just make sure that it isn’t right out in the open for the taking.
The majority of break-in occurs during the middle of the day when it is expected that most people are at work. With this in mind and after reading my usual articles for this blog I had to give a real scenario to think about. What happens when parents work and a teenage kid is sick? Without giving it too much thought the kid stays home…..
Well recently a 14 year-old stayed home from school because he was feeling ill while his parents went to work. The police report stated that the young boy observed a red truck circle the block 3 times before pulling into his drive way. The young boy said a man went to the back and a man went to the front and when the man in the front saw the young boy in the front window trying to write down the license plate of the truck the man yelled and both men ran to the truck and sped away.
So with that you have to think about what else you can do to protect your home, the people and things that matter the most to you. A security system allows you to be monitored 24/7 whether your home or not. So when your children need to stay home due to illness or an adult date night, you can feel more at ease with the knowledge that your home is protected!
I just read a story about a family that was caught in their house and was trapped on the second floor as the first floor was engulfed in flames. Having a fire escape plan is so important. The family consisting of five children ranging in age from one to twelve and an aunt. Had to leap from a second story window to safety. The most heart wrenching was the one year old who had to be dropped from the window to awaiting neighbors below. No one was hurt when jumping from the window.
All of the children were terrified and all of the screaming and sirens didn’t help. What could have help this situation was having more smoke detectors in place and an escape plan. If they would have had a window ladder no children would have had to jump. Also if a plan would have been in place and talked about there would have been less confusion because the children would have already known what to do.