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There are many types of moms. Personally, I’m what you would call the “overprotective mom.” I’m always concerned about the possible dangers that my kids might face. I’ll be the mom holding my son’s hand all the way to school… when he’s 15! I’m always jealous of friends who just let go and don’t fret over every little thing their kids do. I try to let go whenever I can to help my kids have more independence and freedom, but there are some areas that every mom or parent should be overprotective. One of these is home safety. Proper smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are such an important safety measure for our homes and yet it isn’t something we think about often.
Did you know that First Alert invented the first residential smoke alarm? Since then, they have developed innovative safety solutions for your home to keep you and your family safe. Technology has made a huge impact when it comes to smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms and First Alert is on the front line making detectors for your home even more effective.
When you look at the stats it can be scary:
• The risk of dying in a reported home fire is cut in half in homes with working smoke alarms, according to the NFPA.
• Three of every five home fire deaths result from fires in homes without smoke alarms, or with no working smoke alarms, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
• CO poisoning is the number one cause of accidental deaths in the United States – responsible for an average of 450 deaths and more than 20,000 emergency room visits each year, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
• In fires where smoke alarms were present but did not operate, almost half (46%) of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries.
First Alert is making strides to change all these stats with their amazing home safety products. First Alert offers 10-Year alarms, which feature sealed batteries that will last 10 years – meaning no more costly battery replacements for the life of the alarm. If you are my age you will probably remember the episode of Friends where Phoebe is taking batteries out of smoke alarm in her apartment because it won’t stop beeping. While it made for a funny episode, in real life, being able to remove batteries is how alarms end up not working when you need them. It’s important to know that your alarms have their batteries and work properly. I remember as a teenager I took the batteries out of one of my smoke alarms so I could put them in my Gameboy. I know… I’m shaking my head at myself right now. I replaced them right afterward but, if I had forgotten, that could have been a grave mistake.
Making the batteries tamperproof means you can rest easy that the batteries have not been removed. Bonus, no more low battery chirps!
First Alert also has amazing alarms with voice and location technology. The technologically-advanced alarms use a pre-recorded and tamper-proof human voice to alert you and your family in case of smoke or unhealthy levels of CO and also to the specific location of the hazard within the home. How cool is that?! Studies show that children age six to 10 are awakened more readily by voice so this is a must-have feature for your kid’s safety. In one study, maternal voice alarms woke 86-91% of children, prompting 84-86% to successfully escape within five minutes of the alarm's onset. That's compared to 53% of kids waking to the standard alarm and 51% escaping within five minutes. Also knowing what rooms to avoid makes for a quicker and safer exit of the home.
Here are some great tips to make sure your loved ones are safe and sound at home:
• Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the home, including the basement, inside each bedroom and in the main corridors, and carbon monoxide alarms should be installed on each level of the home and in a central location outside each bedroom.
• Once alarms are installed, be sure to properly maintain them by testing regularly. First Alert alarms are equipped with a test button to make this easy.
• Replace batteries every six months. If you have the added benefit of 10-year alarms, you don’t need to worry about battery replacement, but it’s still important to test the alarms.
• If you can’t remember or don’t know how old an alarm is, it is best to replace the entire unit.
And of course, head over to First Alert to update your home safety alarms and take advantage of some pretty cool technology.
First Alert encourages everyone to evaluate their level of preparedness against smoke and carbon monoxide dangers. It’s imperative that people develop and practice an emergency escape plan and install, maintain, regularly test and replace alarms. These are life-saving practices that can make a real difference.
This post was sponsored; as always we only promote products we love and all opinions are our own.
