Three Essential Fire Safety Tips for Senior Care

The possibility of a fire is present at every time of day, in any type of weather, and within every type of home. Knowing what to do in the event of a fire can be especially important for older adults, especially those living with mobility issues like arthritis or cerebral palsy. Responsible senior care includes more than assistance with day-to-day tasks--creating a plan in conjunction with your loved one themselves or an assistant providing senior care is a crucial piece of safety when it comes to ensuring that older adults can safely remain in their spaces. Read on to learn three crucial fire safety tips for the elderly, and put them into place as soon as possible to help your loved one.

Map multiple routes

You, your loved one, and anyone providing senior care to an older adult should be able to identify and use multiple home exit routes. It's important to create multiple points of exit in the event of a fire so your loved one will be able to use an alternate route should smoke or fire make it impossible to exit from one area. Map out multiple routes of exit in your loved one's home.

Test the alarms

Senior care providers have found that smoke detectors should be set to the loudest available setting in the homes of older Americans due to decreases in hearing ability. Regularly test your smoke alarms with your loved one to ensure that he or she will be able to hear them in the event of an emergency. You should make testing smoke alarms part of a monthly routine for maximum safety.

Stay low

If your loved one lives in a multi-level home, consider moving his or her bedroom to the bottom floor. This will allow them and their caregiver to move more quickly in an emergency, and could even save your loved one's life if a fire occurs upstairs.

Staying safe in the event of a fire is all about planning, preparation, and knowing what to do at a moment's notice. Invest a little extra time to make sure they are safe in this kind of emergency.