Cayce
Fire Department
Exit Drills in the Home (E.D.I.T.H.)
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When a fire occurs,
there's no time for planning. Sit down with your family today and make a
step-by-step plan for escaping from a fire.
Draw a floor-plan
of your home, marking two ways out of every room - especially sleeping areas. Discuss
the escape routes with every member of your household.
Agree on a
meeting place
outside your home where every member of the household will gather after escaping
a fire to wait for the fire department. This allows you to count heads and
inform the fire department if anyone is trapped inside the burning building.
Practice your
escape plan
at least twice a year. Have a fire drill in your home. Appoint someone to be
monitor and have everyone participate. Get
out quickly, but carefully.
Make your exit
drill realistic.
Pretend that some exits are blocked by fire and practice alternative escape
routes. Pretend that the lights are out and that some escape routes are filling
with smoke.
Make sure everyone
in the household can unlock all doors and windows quickly, even in the dark.
Windows or doors with security bars need to be equipped with quick-release
devices and everyone in the household should know how to use them.
If you live in an
apartment building, use stairways to escape. Never use an elevator during a fire. It may
stop between floors or take you to a floor where the fire is burning.
If you live in a
two-story house, and you must escape from a second-story window, be sure there is a safe
way to reach the ground. Make special arrangements for children, older adults,
and people with disabilities. People who have difficulty moving should have a
phone in their sleeping area and, if possible, should sleep on the ground floor.
Test doors before
opening them. While kneeling or crouching at the door, reach up as high as you can
and touch the door, the knob, and the space between the door and its frame with
the back of your hand. If the door is hot, use another escape route. If the door
is cool, open it with caution.
If you are
trapped,
close all doors between you and the fire. Stuff the cracks around the doors to
keep out smoke. Wait at a window and signal for help with a light-colored cloth
or a flashlight. If there's a phone in the room, call the fire department and
tell them exactly where you are.
In case of fire,
don't stop for anything. Do not try to rescue possessions or pets. Go directly to your meeting
place and then call the fire department from a neighbor's phone or on a cell
phone. Every member of your household should know how to call the fire
department.
Crawl low under
smoke. Smoke
contains deadly gases, and heat rises. During a fire, cleaner air will be near
the floor. If you encounter smoke when using your primary exit, use your
alternate escape plan. If you must exit through smoke, crawl on your hands and
knees.
Once you are out of your home don't go back for any reason. If people are trapped, the firefighters have the best chance of rescuing them. The heat and smoke of a fire is toxic to you and you may become overpowered quickly. Firefighters have the training, experience, and protective equipment needed to enter burning buildings.