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Fire Safety

Fire! Why a hot issue in the home?

Many of your clients’ homes present fire hazards. According to the national fire protection association, more than 400,000 home fires take place annually. Some clients are at special risk. Those aged 80 or older are 3x more likely to die in a fire. Clients with disabilities are also vulnerable.

That’s why we have a fires safety program to help protect you and your clients. The fire safety program, aimed at preventing fires in client homes and at the office, must comply with standards set by the occupational safety and health administration (OSHA), as well as standards set by local fire ordinances.

Fire! What starts it?

It takes just three elements to make fire: oxygen, fuel, and heat. When they come together, there’s a chemical reaction - and a fire.

  • Oxygen is always present. Fire needs it to ignite. You need it to live. Your job is to keep the other two ingredients - heat and fuel - away from each other.
  • Heat is present in many sources, including stoves, appliances such as toasters, fireplaces, lighted cigarettes and damaged electrical wiring.
  • Fuel is anything combustible - that is, anything that will burn when exposed to heat. Cloth, paper, wood, upholstery, gasoline, and kerosene are all fuels.

A chemical reaction occurs when the right amount of oxygen, fuel, and heat are present and generates a fire. Interrupt that chain reaction by removing any or all of the elements and the fire can’t sustain itself.

Remember this tetrahedrom: Oxygen: Heat: Fuel and their chemical reaction. Alert families to keep combustibles a safe distance from any source of heat and to be cautious around oxygen equipment.

The Five Classes of Fire

A. Involved ordinary combustibles such as wood, paper, cloth, rubber, and certain plastics. 
B. Caused by gases or flammable liquids such as grease, oil, paint and solvents
C. Electrical in nature, involving equipment such as household appliances, heating units, motors, and generators
D. Involve the burning of various metals. These are least likely to occur in a home. 
K. Involving cooking oils, such as vegetable or animal oils and fats.

Where do fires start?

According to a recent study by the US Fire Administration, the older a dwelling is, the greater the likelihood of fire. But the fact is that no home is safe from fire.

  • Kitchen: cooking accidents are the leading cause of fire-related injuries for older homes.
  • Bedrooms: electrical fires most commonly occur here. Mattresses can be deathtraps if made before 1973, when federal flammability standards went into effect.
  • Utility rooms, basements, garages: here or wherever household heat is generated is another risk area. The risk increases in rooms where space heaters are used.
  • Older homes: outdated electrical wiring systems and overloaded sockets pose risks.
  • Fires are most often started by people due to:
    • Carelessness, ushc as unsafe smoking habits
    • Foregetfulness, such as leaving food unattended on the stove
    • Negligence, as in letting children play around matches, cooking flames or other fire hazards

How do you perform a home safety inspection?

Assess a home’s fire safety on your first visit

Start Outside:

  • Locate the nearest fire hydrant
  • Identify the construction material of the home
  • Make sure the address is clearly marked and visible to the fire department

Move Inside:

  • Locate all exits
  • Determine whether there is electricity and how the home is heated
  • Look for a circuit breaker or fuse box and make sure the right sized fuses are used
  • Make sure space heaters have three feet of clearance around them
  • Make sure kerosene heaters are never run on gasoline or any substitute fuel. Check for adequate ventilation to avoid the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning
  • Make sure fireplaces or wood stoves are cleaned to avoid chimney fires caused by creosote buildup. Check for use of fireplace screens. Flammable items must be kept well away.

Safety Check

Next look for the following fire safety equipment:

  • At least one smoke detector on each level, especially near bedrooms. The detector should be tested and cleaned monthly. Batteries should be changed twice yearly - for example, when Daylight Savings Time starts and stops
  • A working flashlight in every bedroom, since smoke creates darkness and electricity may be off
  • A portable fire extinguisher in the kitchen and any other room at risk for fire. Make sure everyone knows how to use one

Proper use of Fire Extinguisher

Fire extinguishers are categorized by the type of fire they put out: Class A, B or C fire. ABC extinguishers can be used to fight Class A, B, or C fires. Class K extinguishers are mainly used in commercial kitchens, so most homes will not have them, but they are available for home use. For best overall protection in the kitchen, use a multi-purpose, dry chemical extinguisher rated for Class A, B, and C fires. Proper use is critical. Make sure everyone can P-A-S-S the test. P - pull the pin
A - aim the nozzle at the base of the flame, since the pressure of spraying directly into the fire may spread the burning material
S - squeeze the trigger while holding the canister upright
S - sweep side to side to cover the fire area with extinguisher agent

Do home bound patients have

Here are some fire safety tips for your home-bound patients:/p>

  • Keep phones within easy reach so patients can call the fire department. Place a portable phone at the bedside if possible. If a cell phone is available, make sure there is an entry or speed dial set for emergency responders. Always keep the cell phone charged. Identify an alternative method to reach the fire department if no phone is available. If the patient has a remote emergency button, make sure it is within reach at all times.
  • Post emergency numbers at each phone and teach everyone to use them.
  • Alert the fire department to any disabled persons who may need evaucation help. Obtain special safety tips.
  • Use smoke detectors with a strobe light or vibrator for hearing-impaired people.
  • Never smoke or bring open flame near oxygen equipment, since oxygen quickly feeds the fire’s growth. Be careful around oxygen.
  • Always sleep on the first floor near an exit, if disable, to aid escape: avoid sleeping upstairs.

Whats the getaway plan?

Fire is fast. In less than 30 seconds, a small flare-up can blaze out of control. In less than five minutes, a home can be consumed in flames. To respond quickly, every family needs a written escape plan that shows at least two ways out of each room, usually a doorway and a window. Upstairs, the plan should include an Underwriter’s Laboratory-approved (UL) collapsible ladder to escape.

Review these guidelines with your family:

  • Know the plan for every room and practice it, including when blindfolded or in darkness. Most fire deaths occur between 2am and 6am. Smoke turns famililar rooms dark and deadly even in daylight.
  • Practice using the quick-release feature of any security bars at doors or windows to avoid getting trapped inside.
  • Keep escape routes such as hallways, stairways, and doorways clear and free of clutter
  • Sleep with bedroom doors closed to hold back heat and smoke
  • Feel the door with the back of the hand before opening it. If a door is hot, don’t open it. Instead, use the alternate escape route.
  • Have a prearranged spot to meet outside the home such as a tree or spot on the sidewalk. Don’t go back in under any circumstances!
  • Call the fire department from a neighbor’s home. Tell them if someone is missing. Firefighters are trained to perform safe rescue.

How can you lead the road to safety?

Fire spreads quickly. Heat and smoke can become lethal in no time. You must race against these dangers:

  • Heat is more threatening than flames. Since heat rises, it can be 100 degrees at floor level and 600 degrees at eye level - hot enough to scorch your lungs and melt your clothes to your skin. The air can soon become hot enough to ignite every combustible in the room - a phenomenon known as flashover.
  • Poisonous gases that kill. Fire eats up oxygen. Breathing in even small amounts of smoke and toxic fumes can leave you drowsy and disoriented. Fumes can lull you to sleep before flames reach you. The elderly, whose reaction time may be slowed by medications or disabilities, are especially at risk. Smoke and fumes rise initially. That’s why every home should have smoke detectors that work.

RACE

What you do in the first one to three minutes of a fire is critical to protect lives and property. It’s R.A.C.E. to safety.

For non-ambulatory patients, use a wheelchair if available or even a wheeled bed. If someone can assist you, use the “swing carry” to form a cradle with your arms behind a patient’s arms and knees. Use the “blanket drag” to move a patient to safety by yourself. And if a patient’s clothing catches fire, use a blanket to smother the flames or initiate the “stop, drop, and roll” technique and move to safety while staying beneath poisonous flumes.

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