General Home Safety Guide
Home fire
safety checklist: 1.
Leave stove top clean and free of clutter. Never
leave cooking area unattended. Try not to cook when
sleepy, drinking a lot of alcohol or when on
medication that makes you drowsy.
2. Keep
counter-top appliances (cords) in good repair and
have adequate electrical circuits for all heat
producing appliances. 3.
Are space heaters at least three feet away from
walls and anything else that can burn?
4. Be careful with
smoking materials. Wet contents of ashtrays before
disposing and hide matches and lighters from
children � stored up high in locked cabinet. Never
smoke in bed. 5.
Has fireplace and chimney been inspected or cleaned
in the past 12 months? 6.
Are bathroom and kitchen wall outlets protected by
ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI)?
7. Have your
fuses or circuit breakers professionally inspected
to make sure they match the circuit capacity of
house wiring. 8.
Are paints, gasoline and other flammable liquids
stored away from flames and sparks in a proper
safety container outside the home in a shed or
garage? 9. Do
you have smoke detectors installed on every floor of
your home and outside all bedrooms? Test them
monthly and change the batteries every year. *It�s
easy to remember to change batteries when time
changes to day light savings time. For false alarms,
fan smoke away from the detector but do not remove
battery. Replace smoke detectors every 10 years.
10. Are all
portable fire extinguishers handy and fully charged?
Do you know how to use them properly? Refer to the
owner�s manual beforehand or remember the acronym
PASS. P-
pull the pin. A-
aim nozzle or hose at base of flames standing
6 to 10 feet away. S-
squeeze the lever (or button) above the
handle to discharge. S-
sweep the nozzle or hose from side to side
moving carefully toward the flames extinguishing
agent at the base of the fire. Once the fire goes
out, watch carefully and be prepared to repeat the
process if the fire re-ignites and then back away
carefully. Always call fire department first and
make sure everyone else is out of the house before
attempting to fight a fire. It is best to have been
trained and to have practiced beforehand before
attempting to fight a fire.
11. Do you have a
fire escape plan? Have you practiced your plan at
least every six months? Are there two unobstructed
exits (including windows) from each room in your
home? Do you have a portable escape fire ladder for
all second story bedroom windows?
12. Have you
considered installing an automatic home fire
sprinkler system? 13.
Do you know where your flashlights are on each floor
and how to find them in a power outage? Are they
working? Don�t carry lit candles.
14. Do you have
carbon monoxide detectors on each floor? Should the
carbon monoxide detector sound an alarm, immediately
open all windows, call the fire department and
evacuate the home. Carbon monoxide is an odorless
and silent killer. Some potential areas of concern
are cracked heat exchangers in a furnace, leaking,
blocked or clogged hot water tank and gas dryer
flews or chimney flews. Have all hot water tanks,
dryers, furnaces and fireplaces checked regularly.
Additional home & fire safety tips can be reviewed
online at
www.sparky.org
&
www.nfpa.org/
&
www.pittsburgh.bbb.org/
&
www.info.gov/
&
www.americanheart.org/
&
www.strokeassociation.org/
&
www.diabetes.org/
. .
(This safety and medical information is not all
inclusive. Please consult with your Doctor.)
For further helpful
safety & consumer information call:
General Medical Information Guide
Heart disease,
stroke and other cardiovascular diseases claim the
lives of over 950,000 Americans each year. Every 53
seconds, someone in America has a stroke. In 3.3
minutes, someone will die of one. That means about
600,000 Americans will have a new or recurrent
stroke this year � and about 160,000 of them will
die. In fact, stroke is our nation�s No. 3 killer �
behind heart disease and cancer � and one of the
leading causes of disability.
Know the warning signs of a
stroke: (1)
Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg,
especially on one side of the body
(2) Sudden
confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
(3) Sudden trouble
walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
(4) Sudden
trouble seeing in one or both eyes
(5) Sudden severe
headache with no known cause.
What is a stroke?
Stroke is a type of cardiovascular disease. It
affects the arteries leading to and within the
brain. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that
carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either
blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part
of the brain cannot get the blood (and oxygen) it
needs, so it starts to die. Clots that block an
artery cause ischemic (is-KEM-ik) strokes. This is
the most common type of stroke.
Ischemic strokes
account for about 70-80 percent of all strokes.
Ruptured blood vessels cause
hemorrhagic
(hem-o-RAJ-ik) or bleeding strokes. When part of the
brain dies from lack of blood flow, the part of the
body it controls is affected. Strokes can cause
paralysis, affect speech and vision, and cause other
major problems. What is a
TIA? A TIA (transient ischemic attack) is
a �warning stroke,� sometimes called a
�mini-stroke.� A TIA can occur days, weeks or months
before a major stroke. TIAs are very strong
predictors of stroke risk- they signal about 10% of
strokes. Compared with people who have not had a
TIA, people who have had a TIA are nine times more
likely to have a stroke. A TIA is like a stroke with
symptoms that occur rapidly and usually lasting a
short time. More than 75 percent of TIAs last less
than five minutes. The average is about a minute.
Unlike stroke, when a TIA ends, the blood clot
resolves itself and the symptoms disappear, leaving
no permanent effects. Risk
factors that contribute to stroke are
carotid or other artery disease, atrial
fibrillation, coronary heart disease or heart
failure, enlarged heart, heart valve disease and
some types of congenital heart defects; also TIAs,
certain blood disorders, high blood cholesterol,
diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking,
excessive alcohol use and illegal drug use. Risk
factors you cannot change are age (the older you
are, the greater your risk for stroke), sex (stroke
is more common in men than in women, however more
than half of total stroke deaths occur in women),
heredity and race (higher risk if a parent,
grandparent, sister or brother that has had a stroke
� African Americans have a much higher risk of death
from a stroke than Caucasians do; in part due to
having higher risks of high blood pressure, diabetes
and obesity), prior stroke (someone who has had a
stroke is at much higher risk of having another one)
and heart attack victims (have higher stroke risk).
Can a stroke be stopped?
If stroke signs are recognized and immediate medical
help is attained, (�time is critical�) a
clot-dissolving drug known as TPA (short for tissue
plasminogen activator) needs to be given within
three hours after an ischemic stroke starts, it can
reduce long-term disability.
Key points to remember:
(1)
Stroke is a medical emergency. Every second
counts! (2)
Know the warning signs
(3) Note the time when the
first warning signs occurred
(4) Respond quickly
� call 911 if your able to get to a phone or push
your help-alert button immediately if you have one
and help will be sent by an emergency response
specialist according to your emergency response
procedure as previously arranged by you.
TIME IS OF THE
ESSENCE!
Call
For additional helpful information:
EMS - Emergency
Monitoring Systems 1-800-813-9691
