Home Fire Drill Day! Is Your Family Safe?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. All opinions are 100% mine.

Home Fire Drill Day! Is Your Family Safe?

As parents, we want the best for our kids. We purchase houses based on school ratings, make sure there’s no red dye in their food, hold their hands when crossing the street – among many many other things. But what about the safety precautions that might not cross our minds on a daily basis?

On Saturday, October 15, 2016, Nationwide Make Safe Happen, with members of the Make Safe Happen Advisory Council will launch a new national observance day: Home Fire Drill Day. Familiesacross the country are encouraged to practice their home fire drills, ensuring that American families –especially children – know the escape plan and are prepared in the event of a home fire.

I remember practicing fire drills when I was younger, and I’ve done them at previous employers, yet for some reason it wasn’t until recently we had this discussion with my girls. I was completely shocked to learn how common house fires actually are and yet they are the biggest disaster threat facing American families today. 

According to a recent Nationwide Make Safe Happen survey: 

• Only approximately half of parents surveyed (55 percent) said their children know what to do in the event of a home fire
• Nearly 7 in 10 parents (69 percent) think they could do more to keep their child/children safe in their home 
• Less than half of all parents (47 percent) surveyed created a fire escape plan with their child/children

Some fires can start and spread quickly, which is why we all need to be careful and educated when it comes to fire safety. Just a little bit of planning can make a big difference for your family. Home Fire Drill Day is October 15, 2016 and this year we will all be ready! How about we turn drills into a family game, here’s how:

Learn the basics before you play.

Step 1. Know where to go.

• Pick a safety spot that’s near your home and a safe distance away
• Explain to your kids that when the smoke alarm beeps, they need to get out of the house quickly and meet at that safety spot.

Step 2. Check your smoke alarms.

• Test your smoke alarms with your kids so they know the sound.  Make sure there’s a smoke alarm on every level of your home, and one in each bedroom.
• Learn more here.

Step 3. Do the drill.

• Have kids head to their bedrooms and wait for the drill to begin.
•  Got kids under 6? Assign adults to help anyone who’ll need it.
•  Put one adult in charge of sounding the smoke alarm and running the drill.
•  Next, sound the smoke alarm, start the timer and have everyone book it to the safety spot.
•  Once everyone gets to the safety spot, stop the timer. If you all made it in under two minutes,
  you each get an imaginary gold medal. If not, give it another try.
•  In a real fire, get to the safety spot, then call 911 and keep everyone close until firefighters arrive.

If you want to see an example, see this family in action. Be sure to print your own Fire Escape Plan, take the time to sit down with your family and make safe happen!