Safety Tips
Top Ten Safety Tips
- Smoke alarms save lives. Install and maintain them.
- If your clothes or hair ever catch on fire, remember to "Stop, Drop, and Roll".
- Keep matches, lighters, and candles away from children.
- Be careful with candles. Do not leave them unattended. Never sleep with candles burning.
- Remove electrical cords from under rugs. Never nail or staple the cord to walls or molding
- Don't overload outlets and extension cords.
- Never put a portable space heater near drapes, furniture, bedding or other flammable materials
- Remove all materials on or near your stove that could catch fire, including paper, dishcloths, etc. Never leave a stove unattended.
- Early notification can make all the difference - in case of fire call 911.
- If you see smoke, remember to "Get Low and Go!" and help the younger members of your family to remember "Don't Hide, Get Outside!" Close the door behind you to contain the smoke and fire.
Tornado Safety Tips
Hide in a small, windowless, first floor, interior room like a closet or bathroom. The bathtub and commode are anchored directly into the ground, and sometimes are the only thing left in place after the tornado. Placing yourself into the bathtub with a cushion or mattress over you gives you protection on all sides, as well as an anchor to the foundation. Plumbing pipes may or may not help hold the walls together, but all the extra framing that it takes to put a bathroom together may make a big difference. If there is no downstairs bathroom and the closets are all packed with "stuff," a hall may be the best shelter. Put as many walls as you can between yourself and the tornado.
Wherever it is, the shelter should be well known by each member of the family. If you and your family will conduct annual emergency drills(fire, tornado, etc), everyone will remember what to do and where to go when a tornado is approaching--automatically and without panic. Choose a friend or family member in another part of town or elsewhere to be a "contact person" that will be called by everyone should the family members become separated.