Senior Safety Tips for the Elderly

Use these simple senior safety tips to prevent elderly deaths and injuries from fire in your home and community.

Make sure you have a working fire extinguisher at home at all times.

Keep your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors up to date by checking the batteries regularly and promptly replacing expired / discharged batteries.

Have a professional or plumber clean the vents of your dryer once every three months. Dryer vents cause 2,900 fires every year, and the leading cause of these fires is failure to clean them.

Never dry objects containing foam, rubber or plastic – this includes shoes and rugs or bathmats with rubber.

Don’t leave your dryer running when you are sleeping, or not at home.

If your smoke or carbon monoxide detectors are more than 10 year old, it’s time to replace them! Remember that carbon monoxide is a deadly, odorless, colorless gas – you cannot smell it or see it. Having a working carbon monoxide detector is crucial to senior safety!

Smoking inside your house is not safe. In fact, we recommend and encourage ALL seniors and adults to quit smoking in order to decrease the risk of serious health problems. However, if you are a senior smoker, make sure you never smoke in bed or anywhere oxygen is used.

Heat your home safely – do not use an oven as a heating source, under any circumstance. Turn off all heaters when you leave your home.

Leave at least 3 feet of space around any heater – this is called the a safety zone and it prevents objects from catching fire.

Never leave your stove on while you are not at home.

Remain in the kitchen while cooking – never leave your cooking stove or cooktop unattended.

If a fire does break out in your home, exit immediately and call the fire brigade. Do not try to put off the fire by yourself.

Don’t leave any candles or fireplace burning in a empty room.

If any of the appliance power cords or wires are torn or frayed, replace them immediately to decrease the risk of fire.

Prepare in advance for a fire: know the easiest way to leave your home and be familiar with at least 2 exit ways.

Do not overload power sockets or extension cords.