Adults aged 50 years and above experience a greater risk of fire-related death compared to the general population. Hence, it’s important that as your loved one advances into their golden years, you keep them safe by practicing proper fire safety and emergency evaluation techniques. Whether your loved one is living in their own home or a senior living community, following this guide will empower them to handle the situation more proactively.
Why Is Fire Safety and Evacuation Important?
As your loved one ages, their senses and mobility tend to deteriorate as a result of aging, which can lead to various inconveniences during their daily routine. Unfortunately, such inconveniences can escalate into life-threatening risks, especially during emergencies like a fire. Fire safety and evacuation can help your loved one to navigate, and even prevent such incidents, keeping them safer. Furthermore, good fire safety measures are reassuring even in an emergency, averting distress and helping your loved one evacuate calmly and safely.
Preparation
There’s no such thing as too much emergency preparedness! Every home or senior living community should feature accessible fire prevention tools that help to keep fires at bay, such as:
- Fire alarms
- Fire extinguishers
- Fire sprinkler systems
- Kitchen fire suppression systems
Such prevention tools should be located strategically, such as in areas that are predominantly accessible to caregiver teams. Avoid placing fire extinguishers in your loved one’s room, because tools such as fire extinguishers are difficult to use without proper training, and it can lead to the fire potentially worsening.
Detection
Due to older adults having impaired senses, they often find it difficult to detect fire and act on signals such as fire alarms quickly enough. In such cases, elderly-friendly detectors with features such as louder and light-up alarms are perfect for any home or senior living community. Such tools allow older adults to detect the threat faster and evacuate faster as well. Furthermore, detectors should be present on every floor of the building, making sure the area is well-monitored.
Evacuation
An emergency response plan does wonders for helping your loved one and their fellow neighbors safe in the case of an actual emergency. How complex the plan is depends on the factors such as the size of the location, the number of occupants, and any special risk associated with the location. A sign of a responsible building owner is when they have an emergency response plan for the occupants, such as the residents at a senior living community. Furthermore, they should also be conducting drills when possible, keeping occupants prepared for actual emergencies. In terms of layout, there should be ample exit routes in the building to allow for smooth evacuation without hazards such as overcrowding, which can lead to a crowd pushing and shoving each other at a single exit.
Keeping Your Loved One Safe with The Trace
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