Fire Safety and preparing elderly residents for winter

Approximately 50% of house fire fatalities are aged 65 years and over.

The majority of fires begin in the kitchen and are often as a result of cooking being left unattended on the stove. Other common causes of fire include mechanical failure or smaller heaters catching items alight.
With the temperature dropping, older adults also run a higher risk of health problems and injuries related to the weather, including losing body heat faster than when they where young or slipping on moist or frosty surfaces outside. Like most things in life, it is better to be prepared.

There are simple steps seniors, and everyone else, should take to improve fire safety in the home to ensure your safety through this winter.

To assist seniors, Fire NSW has compiled a check list of fire safety tips, available on their website https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=298 . Some fire safety actions include; ensuring you have adequate, working smoke alarms, making an emergency escape plan, highlighting clear pathways and minimising trip hazards, ensuring locks on doors and windows have keys in an accessible place, never leaving cooking unattended, keeping heaters away from curtains, blankets, table cloths and bedding and always handling open flames such as candles with care.

McLean Care Home and Community Care Manager, Rose Wild said “every winter it is important to ensure our elderly residents are prepared for the cooler months ahead. This might be helping with testing smoke alarms, checking batteries and for people with hearing impairments, making sure they have suitable smoke alarms to keep them safe. We always recommend that seniors keep a fire extinguisher or fire blanket in their kitchen, in the case of an emergency.”

For interviews or more details please contact:

Rose Wild – Home and Community Care manager
McLean Care^® Ltd P: 02 6721 7300  67 Killean Street, Inverell, NSW, 2360