Every 86 seconds throughout the United States there is a home fire. This is a frightening statistic and as a family caregiver, it illustrates just how important it is for you to be aware of the potential risks for fires and make preventing these fires and protecting your loved one an important part of your care journey with them.
June is National Safety Month. This is the ideal opportunity for you to learn more about the risks of home fires and how you can better prepare your parent, their home, and yourself to avoid these fires and prevent potentially devastating consequences.
Use these tips to help protect your aging loved one from a home fire during National Safety Month and throughout the rest of your care journey with them:
- Install smoke detectors. Smoke detectors are a critical element of preventing home fires and consequences related to them. Make sure that there are smoke detectors on all floors of your parent’s home and that they are positioned near sleeping quarters. Check these every month. If your parent suffers from hearing loss, look for detectors that use flashing lights and vibrations to identify a problem.
- Identify escape routes. Go through your parent’s home and identify at least two escape routes for each room of the home. This way, no matter where your parent is when a fire breaks out, they have the best chances of getting out of the home. Make sure to identify a meeting point outside of the home where everyone can reunite if there is a need to escape.
- Have fire extinguishers. Have at least one fire extinguisher available on each level of the home, particularly in the kitchen, and ensure that everyone knows how to use them properly. Check these regularly to ensure that they are still activated and ready for use in an emergency.
Starting elderly care for your aging parent can be one of the best decisions that you can make for them and for yourself as their family caregiver. An elderly home care services provider can be with your parent on a customized schedule that is ideal not just for their needs but also for your care efforts. This means that they can receive the care, support, assistance, and companionship that will help them to be happy, safe, healthy, and comfortable both when you are able to be with them and when you are not. The highly personalized services of this care provider can be valuable for helping them to manage their challenges, limitations, and needs, but can also help them to maintain more mental and emotional health, independence, and fulfillment throughout their later years. As a family caregiver, knowing that your aging parent has the care of this type of care provider can ease your stress and enable you to focus more energy and attention on other obligations and needs in your life without worrying that your parent is not getting everything that they need.
If you or an aging family member are considering hiring professional elderly care services in Atlanta, GA, please contact the caring staff at Caring Companions of Atlanta 470-514-5954 .
We provide quality non-medical services to our clients in their homes or in a facility if that’s where they live. Our staff is available for care plans for extensive care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or as little as 4 hours per visit. Reach out to us, and one of our outstanding administrative staff will meet with potential clients to assist them and their families in designing an effective, personal plan of care.
Source:
http://www.nsc.org/learn/safety-knowledge/Pages/safety-at-home-fires-burns.aspx
