Instruction manual

Home Safety Tips
Home Safety Information
E.D.I.T.H Exit Drills In The Home re safety information
Draw a oor plan of your home and mark two ways out of every
room, especially the bedrooms. Go over these escape routes with
every member of your household.
Agree on a meeting place outside your house where every member
of the household will meet after escaping a re and wait there for
the re department to arrive. This lets you count heads to make
sure everyone is there, and to tell the re department if anyone is
missing.
Practice your escape plan at least a couple times a year. Hold a
re drill in your home. Appoint someone to be a monitor and have
everyone take part in the drill. A re drill is not a race, but practice
to get out quickly ... remember to be careful.
Make your re drill realistic ... pretend that some exits are
blocked by re and practice getting out different escape routes.
Pretend that the lights are out and that some escape routes are
getting smoke in them
Smoke Alarms With working Smoke Detectors — your risk of
dying in a home re is cut almost in half. Install Smoke Detectors
outside of every bedroom and on every level of your home
including the basement. Follow the installation instructions
carefully. Change Smoke Detector batteries at least once every
year.
Home Fall Prevention Checklist
Each year, thousands of older Americans fall at home. Many of
them are seriously injured, and some are disabled. Falls are often
due to hazards that are easy to overlook but easy to x. This
checklist will help you nd and x those hazards in your home. The
checklist asks about hazards found in each room of your home.
For each hazard, the checklist tells you how to x the problem. At
the end of the checklist, you’ll nd other tips for preventing falls.
»»
FLOORS Have a clear path from room to room
»»
STAIRS AND STEPS Fix loose or uneven steps; make sure carpet
is rmly attached to every step
»»
KITCHEN Move items in your cabinets; keep things you use often
on the lower shelves (about waist level), if you must use a step
stool, get one with a bar to hold on to; never use a chair as a
step stool
»»
BATHROOMS Put a non-slip rubber mat or self-stick strips on the
oor of the tub or shower; consider putting grab bars inside the
tub and next to the toilet
»»
BEDROOMS Put in a night-light so you can see where you’re
walking; some night-lights go on by themselves after dark
Other Things You Can Do to Prevent Falls
»» Have your doctor or pharmacist look at all the medicines you
take, even over-the-counter medicines; some medicines can
make you sleepy or dizzy
»» Have your vision checked at least once a year by an eye doctor;
poor vision can increase your risk of falling.
»» Think about wearing an alarm device that will bring help in case
you fall and can’t get up
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