Fire Safety in Your Home
Following on from our recent visit with Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, we would like to bring you more information on fire safety within your home.
Making a Referral
After our recent visit from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, where we were trained on Fire Safety and the new referral service, we wanted to bring this to your attention. As the more people who know about this, the more can be helped and we can lower the risk of fires together in our area.
The new referral service means that the fire and rescue service are able to help those people who are more at risk of fires. Risk factors such as age, behaviours and vulnerabilities are taken into account, and where necessary the fire department can help fit smoke alarms, provide fire retardant bedding, throws and mats, and educate occupants on safety within their home.
Making a referral is easy and can be done on behalf of relatives, clients and neighbours. If you feel that three or more of these factors are present, then a referral should be made:
- Occupiers over 65
- No working smoke alarms
- Smoking
- Smoking where sleeping
- Clutter/hoarding level 4
- Previous fire/burn marks
- Alcohol and substance misuse
- Emollients and Paraffin creams
- Lives alone
- restricted mobility
- Immobile
- Sensory Impairments
To put in a referral, click this link: HFSC (safelincs.co.uk)
Make sure to answer all the questions and put in as much information as necessary so that the team can best help you. If you have not been contacted then the system may have deemed there not to be a risk, however if you really feel there is a need, then please do not hesitate to get back in touch. We can also contact directly on your behalf if needed.
Extra Advice
Those who use emollient and paraffin based creams are at an increased risk due to the flammability of these substances. Even when washed, fabrics that are contaminated with these creams catch fire more easily and burn faster and quicker than others. Therefore if you use these creams, please take extra care when cooking and near an open fire.
If you have hearing loss and are unsure of whether you could hear a fire alarm in the night, a good test is to go upstairs and close the door without using hearing aids, and ask another person to set off the fire alarm. If you cannot hear it, make a referral to the fire rescue service, as they are able to fit vibrating and flashing fire alarms if deemed necessary.
If you smoke and find that you may fall asleep in your chair, this can pose an increased fire risk also. this is where fire retardant bedding, throws and mats can help, as they burn slower and reduce the risk of injury.
If you are making a referral for yourself as one of our clients, then it is always a good idea to get us involved. We can help put in the referral online, and be there when you are visited, and advise of what may be needed to give you the best safety.
If you have any questions or would like us to be there to help with your referral, contact us today on 0191 213 5505.
