We can all agree that we enjoy our living spaces. Whether we own or rent, our homes are hallowed places for the majority of us. After all, “home sweet home” isn’t just a phrase. Our houses are our safe havens and places where we desire to unwind. That is why it is critical to care for the place we call home.
Beyond organising and decorating, care for our homes entails making sure the location where we live and sleep is secure. Though we cannot guarantee that an emergency will never occur, we can surely plan for it and do our best to avoid certain eventualities.
Continue reading to learn about the top safety items to include in your evaluation checklist to keep your home and family safe.
1. Surge Protector
A surge protector is essential for protecting appliances and electronic devices from sudden electrical surges in the power supply from the grid. These devices can be attached to power distribution panels or multi-plugs, helping relieve electrical pressure on devices and limiting damage from overvoltage conditions.
A typical surge protector allows electricity to pass from the outlet to devices connected to the power strip, diverting excess power into the outlet’s ground wire. Grounding wires run perpendicular to the hot and neutral wire, preventing an electrical short circuit if the wiring becomes damaged.
Surge protection devices, whether built-in or a surge strip, offer effective protection from power surges. However, they can deteriorate over time and with multiple voltage spikes. They are vital in homes as load shedding and unreliable power supply are more frequent in our country.
Electrical appliances receive a specific amount of voltage, and changes in this flow can wear down the appliance over time. A sudden surge can cause instant damage to appliances, leaving them useless and in need of replacement. If you cannot afford to replace computerized appliances and electrical devices at a moment’s notice, surge protection is essential.
2. First-Aid Kit
A medical emergency or disease can occur at any time, and it is critical that the basic first aid items found in a first aid box be instantly available to aid in the treatment or management of the medical injury or illness.
Consider the following scenario: a family member cuts themselves and you do not immediately have safety gloves and bandages on hand to aid the individual in need. First aid is a vital skill that can save a person’s life, but only if you have a properly filled first aid kit on hand.
The advantage of having a first aid box, regardless of the type, immediately available for when someone becomes ill or injured is that you will have the medical equipment readily available to assist or even save that person’s life until emergency services can arrive on the scene to take over patient management from you and transport the patient to the nearest most appropriate medical facility.
3. Fire Extinguisher
Fire extinguishers are a minor but critical component of a home fire protection plan. They can save lives and property by extinguishing or damping a small fire until the fire service arrives.
However, there is an essential caution to that statement: Don’t even consider purchasing a fire extinguisher unless you have working smoke detectors and a good home fire evacuation strategy in place.
Fire safety experts recommend that you only try to extinguish a fire after ensuring that everyone else has left or is leaving the building and that someone has phoned the fire service. Remember that lives are more valuable than property.
If those circumstances are met, you should get a fire extinguisher and battle the blaze. Make certain that your back is always turned towards a secure escape. You should also ensure that the fire is contained in a single region. If the fire spreads to other locations, such as the walls and curtains, you should leave the room since the fire could surround you.
You should also be cautious about smoking. If the room becomes too crowded for you to see or breathe, you should leave.
A household extinguisher used promptly can smother a small fire before it spreads, however, fire extinguishers can be dangerous in unskilled hands. Fighting an electrical fire with a water-based extinguisher, for example, could result in an electric shock, and using an extinguisher to put out a large or rapidly growing fire is pointless and could leave you stranded in a burning structure.
A grease fire in a kitchen can be particularly hazardous. You might be able to put it out if you detect it early. A grease fire, on the other hand, can easily send a kitchen up in flames in three and a half minutes, leaving little time to escape.
4. Flashlight
Since our reliance on our sight, a torch is a vital tool to include in an emergency pack. When you’re trapped in an emergency, it’s critical to be able to observe what’s going on and figure out how to move yourself and others out of harm’s way.
The most obvious function of a torch in an emergency kit is to illuminate your surroundings. In addition to lighting the road at night, flashlights can be used to locate persons in need of rescue and are an excellent tool for people in need of rescue to signal for assistance. It is nearly impossible for rescuers to notice you if you are trapped at night without a torch.
However, simply having a bright source of light can attract attention from a long distance. During an emergency, locating people in danger is half the battle. Since a torch can make rescue more efficient and dependable, it should be included in every emergency kit.
5. Face/Dust Masks
Face/dust masks protect from dust, vapours, gases, and mould spores or germs in the aftermath of natural disasters such as earthquakes. It is an essential tool to keep in the emergency disaster survival pack. To protect themselves against respiratory difficulties, allergies must use a nasal mask. It also protects you from the spread of contagious diseases during natural disasters. Include a dust mask for each member of the household for at least three days.
Also take a look at the Home Security System Maintenance Checklist – 6 Items to Check Off
