BURRILLVILLE – If you hear a smoke alarm sound that alerts everyone in your apartment or home that there is a fire, one of the most important things to remember is the phrase, “drop low and go!”
If you drop low and go, you stay below the smoke above your head and can breathe cleaner air. Once you crawl to your bedroom door place the back of your hand on the surface of the door to see if it is warm or hot. Never touch the doorknob. The warmth that you feel on the door surface indicates that the fire is directly on the other side of that door. Keep the door closed and find another exit out of your bedroom to escape the fire. If for some reason you do not have another exit from your bedroom, then you need to open up your window and yell for help. Do not hide in your closet or under your bed. It’s not safe. If a firefighter finds his or her way to your room and can’t see you, then you cannot be rescued. You should never hide from a firefighter. Stay near the open window so they know where you are and you can breathe fresh air instead of the smoke. They may use a ladder to reach your bedroom if it is on a second, third or fourth floor. If your bedroom is on the first floor then open your window and climb outside and run to your meeting place. Hopefully, your family has practiced exit drills in your apartment or home and you have an established meeting place safely away from your residence.
The Fearless Dino Protector Squad firefighting dinosaurs with fire apparatus tails want to remind you how to be safer in your apartment and home when it comes to fire safety and burn prevention education and awareness. Discussing these kids’ safety coloring cartoons and injury-prevention articles together as a family helps keep everyone safer throughout the year. A few minutes every week talking with kids, teens, adults and even the elderly can be the difference between life and death in many cases. DinoTraumasore shows little kids how to safely crawl under the smoke and escape a fire. You could even practice doing this with your family – and it doesn’t matter what the weather is like outside when you decide to practice dropping low and going under smoke as you simulate a crawl to safety.
Remember, “Drop Low & Go!”
Jim Weicherding is a Burrillville resident, and the founder and creator of an award-winning traffic safety effort Seasons of Safety. Weicherding contributes kids’ coloring cartoons, which can be printed and used to help parents discuss safety issues with their children. He has a long list of police officers and firefighters in his family and has worked with law enforcement and firefighters in a creative public safety capacity for more than two decades.
