Helping to Prevent Fires in Your Elderly Loved One’s Home
Elderly Care in Wilmette
One of the worries you might have about your elderly loved one living alone is that there may be a fire. We all know that fires can happen suddenly and without warning. However, with many senior citizens, they can be avoidable in certain circumstances, too. For example, if your elderly loved one is cooking and they leave the stove on – that could cause a fire. The good news is there are ways to help prevent fires in your elderly loved one’s home. You and elder care providers can use these tips to do this.
Have Someone Around When They Are Cooking
Do you worry that your elderly loved one will forget to turn the stove or oven off when they are done cooking? Do you think they will accidentally put something metal in the microwave? Both these situations could cause a fire. Oftentimes, if not caught and put out quickly, these fires can tear through the whole house. If this is a worry that you have, it may be a good idea to hire elder care providers to stay with your elderly loved one when they are cooking. This can help to ensure that nothing is left on when they are done.
Checking on the Smoke Alarms
It is also very important that your elderly loved one has working smoke alarms in their house. They should have one in every area or every room of the house. However, many seniors don’t remember to check the batteries in their smoke alarms. If the batteries aren’t working properly, they may not detect smoke quickly enough when there is a fire. While smoke alarms can’t stop a fire, they can help to save your elderly loved one’s life. If your elderly loved one has trouble hearing, there are smoke alarms that have flashing lights, too.
Putting Out Candles
Does your elderly loved one like to light candles regularly? Are you worried they won’t put the candles out? Maybe, they leave candles sitting on their kitchen table with a tablecloth underneath. What happens if the wax melts over the candle and onto the tablecloth? What about if they have cats that jump on the table and knock the candle over? If you are worried about this with your elderly loved one, you may want to hire elder care providers to watch your elderly loved one’s home regularly to ensure they aren’t leaving candles on too long or in an unsafe place.
Conclusion
Do you worry that there will be a fire in your elderly loved one’s home? If so, there are numerous tips that can help to prevent a fire in a senior citizen’s home. There are also tips that can help to stop fires from spreading as fast. If you are too worried about this happening in your elderly loved one’s home, contact elder care providers to stay with them starting right away.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Elder Care in Wilmette, IL, call the caring staff at LifeCare Home Health & In-Home Services. Call (888) 606-4199 LifeCare serves all of the Chicago Metro Area.
Sources:
https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/outreach/fire_safe_seniors.html
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