The final National Preparedness Month topic for 2019 is “Get Involved in Your Community’s Preparedness“. For this theme, we would like to explore ways to specifically prepare for fire-related disasters in your area. See the above link for ways to prepare for all types of disasters with your community.
Teach Your Family and/or Employees Fire Safety Skills
Teaching your family members and/or employees fire safety skills helps keep your home, business, and community safer. The first skill to teach them is how to use a fire extinguisher. There are plenty of videos online that explain the PASS method, but if you want to provide more formal training, you can ask your local fire protection company to host an interactive demonstration. Most companies will offer different options based on your need, including coming to your place of business to teach a class.
You can also review the basic ways to behave in a fire. These include learning to “stop, drop, and roll” if you are on fire, crawling low to the ground when evacuating a burning building, and saving yourself first before worrying about other people, pets, or items that may be in danger (except if you are the responsible adult looking after minors).
Advocate for Training in Your Social Circles
Whether you are a parent of a school-aged child or a member of a local club or chapter, you can help your community prepare for fire-related disasters by advocating for fire safety training in your social circles. This could include calling your child’s school to request a fire safety presentation for the class or volunteering to set up an extinguisher training class during your club’s next meeting.
You can also be sure that fire safety is being upheld in the places you frequent. Does your church need someone to make sure the smoke alarms and emergency lights are being maintained? Is your gym’s exit light still in need of a new battery? Be the one to speak up and be ready to do a little of the work yourself if necessary. All it takes is a phone call to your local fire protection company!
Support Your Local Fire Department
One of the most important ways to help your community prepare for fire-related disasters is by supporting your local fire department. There is a wide spectrum of ways to do this, depending on your ability. This spectrum includes becoming a volunteer firefighter, donating money, and participating in their events. In addition to these obvious ways of supporting them, many local stations will have specific needs that you may be able to help with if you call and offer your services, including upkeep of the station or the distribution of materials.
By implementing just one of these suggestions, you would become an active participant in helping make your community more prepared for fire-related disasters. We hope you enjoyed this year’s National Preparedness Month series! As always, you can find these articles along with many other fire safety tips at www.pyebarkerfire.com/news.