Planning Your Great Escape

You woke up in the night to the constant, loud beeping sound of your smoke detector.  It is pitch black.  You can see and smell smoke all around you.   Do you know what to do?

Have a plan and practice it regularly!

During a fire emergency, how well you and your family know your Home Exit Drill (HED) can mean the difference between life and death.  Too often people panic in such emergencies because they do not know what to do.  You and your family should make a great escape plan to ensure that everyone gets out quickly and safely.  A clear “HED” will help you make your great escape!  Look inside for some good tips about how to design a Home Exit Drill so that you can plan a great escape!

• Draw a floor plan of your home or apartment.  Be sure to mark all doors and window. 
• Know two ways out of every room.  If one is blocked by smoke or fire, you can use the second way out. 
• Plan an outside meeting place where everyone will gather.  Plan to call the fire department from a neighbor’s home.  Once out, stay out! Invisible toxic gases can kill you.  If someone or a pet is trapped, let the fire department rescue them. 
• Practice your exit plan until it is automatic.  Then practice again at least twice a year.  Too often families make plans and then put them away in a drawer or old filing cabinet.  When fire occurs, you will not have time to search for them.

Know what to do when you hear the alarm!

When you are in your room and you hear a smoke alarm go off - or someone yelling “Fire!” or “Smoke!” - you have only a few minutes to get outside.  Don’t waste time checking to see if it’s a false alarm.  Treat all alarms as real; act immediately.

• Get down on the floor and crawl low.  Both heat and smoke rise, so if you stay between 12 and 36 inches (0.31m and 1m) off the floor, you will be safer from high heat and toxic fumes.
• Check the door before opening.  Look for smoke seeping around the door frame.  Feel the door with your hand.  If you have a solid door, it will be hot to the touch if there is fire on the other side.
• Open doors slowly and carefully.  Be very cautious.  Even if you’ve checked the door, there could still be fire on the other side.  When you open the door, put your head down and tilt your face away from the opening.  Open the door just a little so that it will be easy to close if you detect fire.
• Close doors behind you.  Remember that closed doors slow the flow of oxygen to the fire and give you added time to escape.
• Learn how to escape through windows.  If you are on the first floor, exit the window feet first.  Grab the window ledge, hang down as far as you can, then jump.  Do not exit a window any higher up, except as a last resort.
• Do not use an elevator.  If you live in a high-rise, locate the fire escape and use it.  A fire can disable the elevator, and you could be trapped.

Safety Measures:
Do you have these safety items in your home?

• Working smoke detectors on all levels and outside sleeping areas (each story or wing, basement, etc.)  Have you tested the detector in the last month?  Changed the batteries within the last year?
• ABC fire extinguisher in the kitchen and/or workshop.
• Emergency exit plan, with two ways out from each room and a meeting place outdoors.

A checklist:
Did you remember to?

• Make a floor plan and know two ways out of every room?
• Respond quickly and calmly?
• Stay low and crawl?
• Feel doors to see if they were hot?
• Open doors carefully and slowly?
• Close doors behind you?
• Exit windows by dropping feet first?
• Use the fire escape, NOT the elevator?
• Go immediately to the planned meeting place?
• Call the fire department from a neighbor’s home?