National Fire Prevention Week is Oct 6-12. Having candid conversations with your elderly loved one is important to protect her from any possible home fire, making this a great week to sit down together, make a plan on how to avoid fires, and how to safely escape a possible home fire. It’s also a great time to consider getting 24-hour home care services for your loved one.
Home Fires and Seniors
For a variety of reasons, older adults are most likely to get seriously injured or die in a home fire. This can be especially true if your loved one has physical or cognitive limitations, making rapid decision-making and quick physical activity difficult even in regular daily living.
Additional typical physical changes due to aging, like hearing loss and poor eyesight, can make getting out of home safely more challenging. Hearing loss may cause your loved one not to hear a smoke alarm going off in the middle of the night until it’s too late, and vision loss may make finding her way in darkness and smoke too difficult.
24-Hour Home Care can Help Reduce the Risk of Fire Fatalities in Seniors
One option to talk to your senior about is having 24-hour home care services. A team of several individuals will rotate their shifts in the home and be onsite 24 hours a day. Whoever is in the home at the time will be awake and alert and able to react to any type of emergency that may happen, making the odds of your loved one escaping a home fire unharmed much greater.
Tips for Seniors to Escape a Home Fire
Besides having a professional in the home providing 24-hour home care, there are additional steps your loved one should take to ensure that if a fire occurs, she will have a greater chance of getting out of the home safely and/or calling for help.
- Consider placing your elderly loved one’s bed closest to the door and on the main floor if possible. Stairs and long hallways can make leaving a home filled with smoke dangerous, and plans for a window escape route are too physically demanding for the elderly.
- Have smoke alarms in every room and hallway. It may seem like a lot of smoke detectors to change out the batteries every six months, but if your loved one is hearing impaired or uses medications that make her sleepy, she might not hear the single unit in the hallway until it’s too late.
- Put all necessities by the bed. Make sure your loved one has a phone, eyeglasses, and any walking assistive devices right by her bed. You might even consider placing a whistle by her bed to blow in case something happens, and she can’t get out of bed. She can blow the whistle to alert help. Include a flashlight as well to help her see in the dark.
- Have walkways illuminated by nightlights that stay lit after the power goes out. If there are electrical sockets on the wall, have one plugged into each socket.
- Have a plan. Long before a fire starts, have your loved one discuss her plan for during and after a fire. If she has a 24-hour home care team, she’ll need to know what they’ll do, what she needs to do, and where they’ll meet once outside.
Home fires are not common, but they do occur and almost always occur with no warning. Having a plan and 24-hour home care will help your loved one stay safe.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring 24-Hour Home Care in Walnut Creek, CA, contact the friendly staff at Home Care Professionals today.
Call (866)-940-4855
Sources:
- 5 Ways Elder Care Helps Seniors Live Independently - October 11, 2024
- Helping Seniors Adapt to Fading Vision While Aging in Place - October 1, 2024
- Keeping Your Senior Safe During a Home Fire - September 24, 2024
