Fall Safety Tips
Inspections | Fire Escape | Home Alone l Back to School l More Online
Inspections
You're already changing your smoke alarm batteries when you reset your clocks at the end of daylight savings time. This year, add a checkup of your carbon monoxide detectors and an inspection for your furnace and chimney.
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Fire Escape
It's also the perfect time to practice your family's fire escape plan – or to create one. Be sure all family members know never to return to a burning building for any reason.
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Home Alone
Every week thousands of parents leave children home alone while they are at work, run errands, or attend social engagements. It is estimated that over 40 percent of children are home alone at some time, though rarely overnight. As your fall calendar fills up and you consider leaving your child home alone, remember to:
- Explain your expectations for any time that your children are unsupervised.
- Establish a regular schedule for your children to check in – calling to let you know how and what they are doing.
- Set rules about friends visiting.
- Create a first aid kit and teach children how to use it.
- Keep a list of emergency phone contacts by the phone.
- Store alcohol and prescription medication where they are inaccessible to children.
- Discuss when and how to answer the phone
or doorbell
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Back to School
Send your children back to school this fall with these guidelines to keep them healthy and safe.
- Always properly buckle up car seats and seat belts.
- Obey traffic lights and signals, walk only in crosswalks and follow instructions of crossing guards.
- Assure all bike riders wear a helmet.
- Keep backpacks light – only 5 to 10 percent of your child's body weight. If possible, use a backpack with wheels to reduce back stress.
- Have a safe place for your child to wait for the bus.
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