E. D. I. T. H.
Exit Drills In The Home
Why do we need to plan and practice exit drills in the home?
Here are some statistics to help you understand why exit drills are important:
Fire kills more Americans than all natural disasters combined.
Fire is the 3rd leading cause of accidental death in the home.
85% of all fire deaths occur in the home, of those 78% are civilian.
Most fires in the home occur between midnight and 6:00 am.
Most home fires start in the living room, followed by the kitchen, then the basement and finally the bedroom.
Year 2000 national fire facts:
379,500 fires
3,445 deaths
17,400 injuries from fires
5.674 million dollars in fire loss
We hope you are now convinced to read on about Exit Drills In The Home.
Start Planning
Step 1 - Basic Floor Layout
● To get started, draw a floor plan of your home for each level.
- Then draw each bedroom.
- Locate windows, doors and stairways.
- On upper floors shade in any rooftops that could be used as a fire escape.
Step 2 - Room Inspection
● Go to each room and select the best window for emergency escape.
● Test the windows or screens to see that they work easily and are large and low enough to use.
● Mark these windows with a red arrow from the room to the window.
Almost Done!
Step 3 - Complete the Escape Plan
● Now mark the normal escape routes using interior doors and stairways with black arrows from each room to the outside. The red arrows will outline the alternate escape routes to use if the primary ones are blocked by smoke or fire.
Step 4 - Find a meeting place
● Finally, pick a spot out front of the building that everyone needs to go to when there is an emergency or practice drill. Pick a safe location, away from the building. Using a large tree or mailbox out front of the building is a good point. Mark this point on the map.
Congratulations!
You have now completed all the steps necessary for your family escape plan.
But you're not quite finished yet. Now you need to practice it so that all members of the household know the escape plan.
Hold a Fire Drill
1. Have all members of the home go the their bedrooms and close the door. You should always sleep with the door closed as it may slow the spread of smoke and flames, buying you time to escape.
2. Now have a member of the family push the test button on a smoke alarm and yell: "FIRE!" "EVERYBODY GET OUT!"
3. Follow your escape plan* and leave the building quickly and everybody gather at the meeting place.
4. Then discuss with the members of the family the importance of going to the neighbor's and dialing 9-1-1. Be sure all members know how to dial 9-1-1 and their address.
*Pretend that one of your escape routes is blocked by fire and smoke and use an alternate route.
Escape tips
1. If you see smoke as you escape, try another escape route.
2. If you have to go through smoke, crawl low to your exit. Keep your head one to two feet above the floor. That is where the air will be the cleanest.
3. Test doorknobs and the space between the door and its frame with the back of
your hand before opening doors. If the door is warm, try another escape route. If it is cool, open it slowly. Be ready to slam the door shut if smoke pours through.
4. Never go back into the building! Not for any reason, until it is safe. If someone is still trapped inside, tell the firefighters when they arrive.
