Question

The community health nurse discusses fire safety at the local school meeting because each year thousands of children are hurt or die in home fires. The United States Fire Administration is working with the American Academy of Pediatrics to deliver important messages to parents. The community health nurse discussed “prepare, practice, and prevent.” Prepare to make the home safer from fire; practice fire safety and a home fire escape plan to prevent the unthinkable.

1. What can parents do to make their home safer?

2. How can a toddler learn about fire safety?

3. What other general safety tips for parents should the nurse share at this meeting?

Answer 1

1)

The U.S. Fire Administration estimates that 300 people are killed and $280 million in property is destroyed each year as the result of children playing with fire.

• Keep matches, lighters and other ignitable substances in a secured location out of your child’s reach. Only use lighters with child-resistant features.
• Invest in flameless candles. These candles contain a light bulb rather than an open flame, and take the danger out of your child knocking over a candle.

Help Your Child Survive a Fire

• Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Purchase smoke alarms here.
• Once a month check whether each alarm in the home is working properly by pushing the test button.
• Replace batteries in smoke alarms at least once a year. Immediately install a new battery if an alarm chirps, warning the battery is low.

• Teach your children what smoke alarms sound like and what to do when they hear one.

• Ensure that all household members know two ways to escape from every room of your home, and where to meet up outside..

• Practice your fire escape plan at least twice a year and at different times of the day. Practice waking up to smoke alarms, low crawling and meeting outside. Make sure everyone knows how to call 9-1-1.

• Emphasize “get out, stay out.” Only professional firefighters should enter a building that is on fire—even if other family members, pets or prized possessions are inside.

• Use quick-release devices on barred windows and doors. Security bars without release devices can trap you in a deadly fire. If you have security bars on your windows, be sure one window in each sleeping room has a release device.

• Consider getting escape ladders for sleeping areas on the second or third floor. Learn how to use them, and store them near the windows.

• Teach household members to STOP, DROP and ROLL if their clothes should catch on fire.

2)

Talk Smoke Detectors

Teach children about smoke detectors: Why they are installed, how they work, and the sound that they make. Children need to be able to associate the sound with a fire. Adults should change batteries regularly to avoid having the alarm go off because its battery is low; this could frighten a child.

Plan Escape Routes

With your children, determine two ways out of every room in your home, if at all possible. Usually, this means a door and a window. Some media rooms, home offices, and even bedrooms don't have windows. These rooms can create a particular fire entrapment issue. Evaluate your home and establish a plan in those instances.

Also, create a designated meeting space outside of your home (say, your mailbox if it is at the end of your sidewalk or driveway). Make sure kids know to go there and wait for you.

Often, kids' instinct is to hide when they are scared. Try using the phrase "Don't hide, go outside."

Practice Opening Windows

Make sure that windows, especially in bedrooms, are not stuck closed, that screens can be removed quickly, and that security bars can be opened. Older kids should learn how to complete these tasks on their own in the event of an emergency.

Use Escape Ladders

Place escape ladders near second-floor bedroom windows, and have children practice using them. For very young kids, you may want to practice a first-floor window exit just to give them some idea of what to expect

Touch Door and Check For Heat

Instruct kids how to check doors to see if they are hot, and if so, how to find another way out. Fire safety for children includes having them find a towel to use for handling, touching or grabbing items to avoid burns and to also use the towel or cover to protect their faces and cover their mouths.

If both exits of a room are blocked, kids should get as low as possible. Lie on the ground, near the bed if possible; that's where firefighters will look for them.

Use Your Hands, Not Your Eyes

Children should practice feeling their way out of the home in the dark or with their eyes closed. Turn this into a game by blindfolding your child and asking them to feel their way to a designated area. Daycares and childcare providers can set it up as an obstacle course, and then provide cues and help so that when they reach a designated endpoint, a special treat awaits. (It could be as simple as lunch served outside.)

Fun Activities to Teach Kids About Fire Safety

Sing a Song

Consider teaching a fire escape song to reinforce the need to get out of a burning building. Sing these words to the tune of "Frere Jacques": "There's a fire! There's a fire! Must get out! Must get out! Stay away from fire! Stay away from fire! It is hot. It is hot."

Stop, Drop and Roll

Teach children what to do in the event that their clothes catch fire. Make sure they understand “stop, drop, and roll.” Act it out for them and have them practice with you. Many fire-related injuries can be avoided or minimized if a child heeds this advice instead of running.

Out Means Stay Out

Teach children that once they are out of a burning house or building, they must go to the designated meeting place and never, ever venture back in. If a family member or a pet is missing, they should inform a firefighter or adult. There are too many tragedies where an individual who has gotten out safely ventures back into the home or building.

Practice Monthly

Practice your escape plan at least twice a year; monthly is even better. Just like schools, child care centers and homes should also practice fire drills.

3)

Top Tips

1. Check smoke alarms. Make sure there is a working smoke alarm on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and near sleeping areas. Test smoke alarms every month and replace them every 10 years or when the battery is low.
2. Know the difference between smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms. It is important to have both smoke and CO alarms in your home. Combination smoke and CO alarms are available, but if you have separate ones, make sure you know the sound of each alarm. Learn more CO safety tips.
3. Install carbon monoxide (CO) alarms. Make sure there is one on every level of your home, especially around sleeping areas.
4. Test CO alarms every month. Replace them according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
5. Avoid using gas appliances inside your home. Use generators and grills outside of your home, away from windows and doors. Warm up vehicles outside of your garage.
6. In a CO emergency, leave your home immediately. If the CO alarm sounds, quickly leave your home. Move to a safe location outside where you can breathe in fresh air before you call for help.