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Plano Fire Department Fire and Life Safety Education June is Home Safety Month For most of us, our home is our safe haven.  No one wants to think about being injured or killed at home.  Yet every day in homes across America, 55 people die and another 58,000 people are injured and need medical attention.  There are many simple things you can do to help save lives and prevent injuries.  Installing the right safety products and planning for the whole family can prepare you to deal with whatever may arise.  Home Safety Month focuses on five major safety topics: 1. preventing poisonings 2. being smart around water 3. preventing falls 4. preventing choking and suffocation 5. preventing fires and burns Follow these safety tips concerning each topic! Prevent Falls Have grab bars in the tub and shower. Have bright lights over stairs and steps and on landings. Have handrails on both sides of the stairs and steps. Use a ladder for climbing instead of a stool or furniture. Use baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs if babies or toddlers live in or visit your home. Prevent Poisonings Lock poisons, cleaners, medications and all dangerous items in a place where children can’t reach them. Keep all cleaners in their original containers.  Do not mix them together. Use medications carefully.  Follow the directions.  Use child resistant lids. Call the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 if someone takes poison.  This number will connect you to emergency help in your area. Prevent Fires and Burns Have working smoke alarms and hold fire drills.  If you build a new home, install fire sprinklers. Stay by the stove when cooking, especially when you are frying food. Keep space heaters at least three feet away from anything that can burn.  Turn them off when you leave the room or go to sleep. If you smoke, smoke outside.  Use deep ashtrays and put water in them before you empty them.  Lock matches and lighters in a place where children can’t reach them. Only light candles when an adult is in the room.  Blow the candles out if you leave the room or go to sleep. Prevent Choking and Suffocation Things that can fit through a toilet paper tube can cause a young child to choke.  Keep coins, latex balloons and hard round foods, such as peanuts and hard candy, out of children’s reach. Place children to bed on their backs.  Don’t put pillows, comforters or toys in cribs. Clip the loops in window cords and place them up high where children can’t get them. Read the labels on all toys, especially if they have small parts.  Be sure that your child is old enough to play with them. Tell children to sit down when they eat and to take small bites. Be Smart Around Water Stay within an arm’s length of children in and around water.  This includes bathtubs, toilets, pools and spas—even buckets of water. Put a high fence all the way around your pool or spa.  Always keep the gate closed and locked. Empty large buckets and wading pools after using them.  Keep them upside down when not in use. Make sure your children always swim with a grownup.  No child or adult should swim alone. Keep your hot water at or below 120°F degrees to prevent burns. The Home Safety Council has launched its new, interactive home injury prevention teaching tool, MySafeHome.org. The Site invites visitors into a virtual home, identifying major risk areas, room-by-room, indoors and out, and presents key safety devices and preparedness plans. If you have any questions concerning fire and life safety information please contact the Plano Fire Department at 972-941-7421 or peggyha@plano.gov.