As I was sitting at a theatre with my niece and nephew waiting in anticipation for the movie to start, my little niece looks over to me and asks, “What do we do if there is a fire?”. I opened my mouth ready to answer, and I realized, I didn’t really know. Yes, follow the emergency exit path. Obviously.
But that got me thinking what would a child do if there is a fire at home? What would the parents do? Do Indian households have fire alarms and fire safety evacuation plans ready in advance? Being equipped and ready to handle any situation is half the solution to a problem. This means you should always be aware of potential hazards in your home, and be prepared for any situation.
Here are some tips to help you stay safe.
Prevention is better than cure. Secure your home.
Equip your home.
Planned escape routes are necessary, especially if the fire were to occur at night. While planning escape routes, try and come up with at least two different routes from each room. Try to leave all doorways and windows unblocked to ensure they can be used as a way to escape, if necessary.
Discuss and rehearse the escape routes you’ve planned for each room of your home. If your apartment does not have a safe assembly point, designate a meeting place outside your house or apartment building that is a safe distance away where everyone can be accounted for after they escape.
A little education, prevention and practice goes a long way in ensuring a calm evacuation with as little injuries as possible.
With children out of school, physical distancing as the new norm, and children’s rights under threat, the new world order has “turned back the clock” on years of progress made on children’s well-being. However, it’s not all bad. As a human race, we’ve been built to adapt: we’ve seen a tipping point in technology-enabled education and the promise of a new education policy in our country.