Red Cross home fire campaign visits Rota

The American Red Cross-NMI Chapter’s Home Fire Campaign kicked off the 2017 Fire Prevention Month with a round of smoke alarm installations on Rota over the weekend.

In partnership with the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services and other members of the Fire Prevention Month Committee, the team was able to successfully install a total of 71 smoke alarms and educate residents on home fire safety and typhoon preparedness.

Seven times a day someone around the nation dies in a fire. The Red Cross Home Fire Campaign aims to reduce deaths and injuries from home fires by as much as 25 percent over the next few years. The Red Cross and thousands of campaign partners have helped save numerous lives and installed more than a quarter of a million smoke alarms in homes all across the country since the campaign launched in October of 2014.

“Installing smoke alarms cuts the risk of someone dying from a home fire in half, so we’re joining with groups from across our community to install smoke alarms,” said J.D. Tenorio, Emergency Services director of the NMI Chapter.

The DFEMS provided a great deal of support with the logistics and actual implementation of the program. “We are grateful for the support and partnership we have with DFEMS,” said John Hirsh, executive director of the NMI Chapter.

“The American Red Cross continues to be an effective partner for DFEMS not only in emergency response, but more in prevention programs. Their smoke alarm installation program is critical in fire prevention across the country and here in the CNMI. DFEMS is proud to partner again with the Red Cross in saving lives across the CNMI,” said DFEMS Commissioner Clyde Norita.

Red Cross volunteers, together with DFEMS personnel, have spent hundreds of hours going door to door installing smoke alarms on Saipan, Rota, and Tinian over the past year. Installations on both Saipan and Tinian will be taking place in the coming weeks and months. For more information or to avail of the program, call the Red Cross office at 234-3459.

SIMPLE STEPS TO SAVE LIVES

Even as the Red Cross and other groups install smoke alarms in some neighborhoods, they are calling on everyone to take two simple steps that can save lives: create and practice their home fire escape plan and check their smoke alarms.

There are several things families and individuals can do to increase their chances of surviving a fire:

• If someone doesn’t have smoke alarms, install them. At a minimum, put one on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Local building codes vary and there may be additional requirements where someone lives.

• If someone does have alarms, test them today. If they don’t work, replace them.

• Make sure that everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of the home in less than two minutes.

• Practice that plan. What’s the household’s escape time?

DOWNLOAD RED CROSS APPS

People can learn how to help prevent a home fire and what to do if one occurs by downloading the Red Cross Emergency App.

Children can earn points and incentives in a fun, gaming environment while learning how to prevent a home fire and other emergencies in the Monster Guard: Prepare for Emergencies App.

The First Aid App has information on what to do for burns, broken bones, and breathing and cardiac emergencies. The apps can be downloaded for free in app stores or at redcross.org/apps.

WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO

People can visit redcross.org/homefires to find out more about how to protect themselves and their loved homes from fire. They can become a Red Cross volunteer by contacting 670-234-3459.

They can also help by donating to Red Cross Disaster Relief by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS. Donations to disaster relief will be used to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. We respond to nearly 66,000 other disasters every year and most of these are home fires.

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org. (PR)