What is a good fire evacuation plan? Home evacuation plans are important for survival during a fire in your home. Home evacuation plans get you and your family out of the house safely. Every city building...
Every city building has to have fire evacuation plans. Your home should too. Our fire expert, Jeremy Robshaw, Public Education Officer for St. John's County Fire Rescue, says it's one of the most important steps you can take to combat preventable fires.
"A home evacuation plan is developed to help you and your families get out of your home safely in the event of a fire. These plans should be kept current and they should be practiced regularly with all members of your family. A couple of key things should be included: there should always be two ways out of every room (especially the bedroom) and you should have a designated meeting area outside of the home so that you know that everyone is evacuated safely. It's important to remember that once you are outside of the building, you never ever go back in. You want to follow your home evacuation plan and you want to get yourself and your family out of your home safely and to your designated meeting place, and make sure that you call 911," Robshaw says.
According to the website, OSHA.gov, (U.S. Department of Labor-Occupational Safety and Health Administration) emergency action plans teach employees and homeowners what to do when they are panicking. Good emergency plans and training will help more people stay injury-free. A poor evacuation plan can have bad consequences. It can lead to disorganized chaos and panic.
Every time you practice an evacuation plan, it helps you to recognize what works and doesn't work. These evacuation training sessions will also help you to discover who is more likely to panic and run.
OSHA suggests that everyone have at least these plans set in place: an evacuation policy, procedure, and escape route assignment so employees (or homeowners) know who is in charge of the evacuation. Evacuation procedures often describe actions that should be taken before and while evacuating, such as shutting windows, turning off equipment, and closing doors as you walk out of a room. Exit signs are typically used to identify the escape routes.
You don't have to create an evacuation plan on your own. You can always call your local fire department. There will be representatives there to guide you along the way. Robshaw says the more you practice evacuation plans, the more prepared you are against battling a fire.
