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Paul Samakow is a nationally recognized “burn injury” attorney. Since 1980 he has represented, and still only represents individuals who have suffered due to the neglect or omission of others. Burn injuries can be devastating, and the medical community acknowledges they are the single most difficult to fully diagnose because they can affect any part of the body, and often numerous parts and systems of the body. Here Mr. Samakow shares the top two safety tips every family should heed in order to be safe from fire and scald injuries.
1. Assure you have working smoke alarms.
Smoke detectors save lives. According to the American Burn Association, a working smoker detector more than doubles someone’s chances of getting out of a burning home alive. Fires burn hotter and faster in today’s homes compared to those of a couple of decades ago due to fabrics, particularly synthetics that are in the home, such as furniture. Fires can double in size in less than a minute. Therefore, the extra time a smoke detector can buy you is crucial.
Simply put, smoke alarms warn you and your family of a fire before you can detect one. It is imperative to place working smoke alarms on each level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. The best protection would involve interconnected smoke alarms. This way, once one alarm goes off, they all do. This will guarantee that any and every one in the home will hear an alarm should it go off. Be sure to test your fire alarms every month.
2. Get a regulator on your home’s water heater.
The dial on the water heater IS NOT representative of the temperature that is delivered to someone in the shower or bathtub. Scald injuries can occur at 120 degrees, and water heaters without a temperature control device, or a regulator, can exceed 150 degrees when the water first comes out. Children and the elderly are most often those scalded, because they don’t know what to do, or cannot. Further, their skin is thinner and scalds easier and faster. A simple call to a local plumber can result in the placement of a regulator on your water heater, and the cost is minimal.
To learn more fire prevention tips or to make a free call for advice on burn injury survival, head to Paul Samakow’s website HERE.
