Make a few quick safety checks around your house before you put your clocks back on Sunday; they just might save your life.
Make sure your smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors are operational. Additionally, it is a good time to swap out their batteries.
Unless gadgets have sealed 10-year batteries, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) advises replacing batteries once a year. Every ten years, the smoke alarm itself needs to be changed.
The CPSC advises placing smoke alarms outside sleeping areas, inside each bedroom, and on every floor of the house. Additionally, carbon monoxide detectors must to be put up outside of sleeping quarters on every floor of the house.
The commission stressed how crucial it is to have functioning smoke and CO alarms all year round, but especially now because it is heating season and people are spending more time indoors.
Home heating systems, portable generators, and other CO-producing machines can all cause carbon monoxide poisoning. More than 400 Americans die each year from CO poisoning, which is undetectable and flavourless. Those fatalities predominantly occur between November and February.
According to the CPSC, there were an estimated 347,000 residential fires in the US in 2019. There were roughly 2,490 fatalities, 11,760 injuries, and $7.38 billion in property damage as a result of those fires.
Making a fire escape plan that includes two exits from each room and a direct path to the outside from each exit is advised by the CPSC. Don’t go back to the house after you’ve escaped.
The CPSC advises closing bedroom doors to prevent the spread of a potential fire.
According to the CPSC, there was a 67% decrease in home fires per household between 1980 and 2019, a 66% decrease in fire deaths per household, and a 60% decrease in fire injuries per household.
Information About
For more information on carbon monoxide poisoning, visit the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SOURCE: News release from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
