Managing Home Emergencies
Emergencies in the home come in all manner of circumstances which means that you will need to act quickly in order to prevent further damage or worse from happening. You should create an emergency plan for your home so that it can be followed step by step. In managing home emergencies, you cannot plan for every contingency. However, you can be prepared for the most common ones that affect your home.
Disoriented Family Member
If someone in your home is disoriented, nauseous and vomiting, they may have swallowed poison. Call 911 if they become unconscious or have stopped breathing. However, if they are still alert call the poison control center at 1-800-222-1222.
Keep calm and follow their instructions. They will ask you a series of questions about the person who may have swallowed the poison so keep calm when delivering the answers.
Water Pipes Freeze
This one affects more than 50 million US homes each year, so you’ll need to do the following;
– Open all faucets
– Locate the frozen part of the pipes
– Use a hair dryer or small, portable heater to thaw out the frozen section
Pipes will most often freeze at the point where they enter the home. Having a small, portable heater at that spot will help keep the pipes from freezing up. If the pipes should burst, you’ll need to do the following:
– Shut off the main water valve.
– Shut off the electricity to the affect area
– Call a plumber and clean up the excess water
Gas Leak
If you smell something like rotten eggs in your home, that could be a gas leak. Do not attempt to turn off the gas, but instead you should get everyone out of the home as soon as possible. Call 911 to report the leak and then call the utility or gas company who will arrive to shut it off.
Unexplained Headache, Chest Pain and Nausea
If you and your family members are all suffering from these symptoms, you may have a carbon monoxide leak in your home. Every year, such leaks will kill over 400 Americans, so it is vital that you get a carbon monoxide detector. If the detector should go off or those in your household should experience the aforementioned symptom, get out of the home immediately. You’ll need to call 911 immediately as well to be taken to the hospital. Worry about the leak in your home later after everyone is safely out. Make sure to test your carbon monoxide detectors every single month.
Backed Up Toilet
Obviously having a plunger is required, but if that does not clear the blockage, then you’ll need to do the following:
– Use stoppers to close up the drains in all of your plumbing fixtures to prevent the back up from affecting other areas of your home.
– Call a plumber to fix the problem and a sewage cleanup service to sanitize the affected areas.
Managing home emergencies is easier when you have a plan for the major ones that are the most likely to occur in your household.
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