As a homeowner, the security of your family is your highest priority. The home should be a place of safety, but your property may be at risk without appropriate planning and preparation. You don’t have to go to extreme measures for peace of mind, but it’s important to have these home safety essentials on hand.
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Smoke detectors alert you to potentially dangerous situations so you can take action. Perhaps food is burning in the stove and it needs to be turned off. In case of a house fire, you need to be awakened and rush your family to safety. Smoke alarms are essential in either situation. Place smoke detectors in each bedroom, the kitchen, living rooms, hallways, the attic, and the basement.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas that is deadly. CO is emitted from fireplaces, gas appliances, and engines. The living room, the kitchen, garages, and workshops are the best places to install carbon monoxide detectors.
Home Safety Essentials Include Fire Emergency Items
If a fire does start in your home, you only have moments to take action. Place fire extinguishers near anywhere that has a heat source, like the kitchen and fireplace. If a fire does start, you will be prepared to put it out before it spreads. Regularly review how to use one in the event that you need it. Inspect your fire extinguishers periodically, taking note of the expiration date.
If you’re unable to extinguish a fire, get your family out of the house as quickly as possible. If your home has multiple stories, having window ladders nearby will help members evacuate top floors if they are unable to go downstairs. Outline a plan with your family of how to leave in an emergency and include multiple ways of escape.
Emergency Kits
If you have to leave with little notice, you will want to grab important items like cash, identification, health records, emergency contact numbers, extra clothes, medications, food, and water. Put together a disaster kit for each member of your family containing items they would need in an emergency. Make sure that the kits are always within easy access.
First Aid Kits are Home Safety Essentials
A first aid kit contains basic items to help you treat minor household ailments and injuries. Have plenty of bandages of different sizes on hand, as cuts are one of the most common injuries at home.
Also include gauze, latex gloves, pain medication, and ointment for burns and insect stings in your first aid kit. Certain items will expire and should be replaced after a while.
Don’t rely on a single kit. Instead, place a few around the house in rooms where the risk of injury is higher, like in the kitchen and in the garage. When an injury happens, you don’t want to have to rummage around the house looking for first aid items.
Motion Sensing Lights
Lights that are triggered by movement can be used for both safety and security. Illuminating dark walkways on your property helps prevent accidents if you have to navigate them at night.
Motion lights will also alert you to activity around your home. If the lights are near the porch, they could alert you to visitors approaching. If the lights are covering areas in the back or side of the house and suddenly turn on, someone may be snooping in less trafficked areas around your home. Motion sensing lights often scare burglars away when they suddenly turn on.
Deadbolt Locks
A deadbolt lock provides extra protection from would-be intruders. Deadbolts hinder the attempts of forceful entry by reinforcing the doorknob locks to make it more difficult to break in. This type of lock is quite common, but if there are any exterior doors in your home without a deadbolt, contact a locksmith to install them as soon as possible.
One of the key elements of safety is preparation. Be mindful of places where potential harm to your family is high and the scenarios where that risk is increased. Knowing what to look for will help keep you safe.
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