Our Experience - Your Safety

Besides keeping you posted on our progress with our production, we also see our obligation to keep you posted on home fire safety. As it happens, being in October, which is recognized as National Fire Protection Month, I have to very important items to share.

Thanks to Congress and their attempts to manipulate our lives, (for a change!) we now turn back our clocks to revert to Standard Time at 2:00 AM on the first Sunday of November. With that, there has been a strong push by the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), fire departments, and other safety organizations, to associate changing our clocks as a reminder to change the batteries in our smoke detectors.("Change Your Clocks-Change Your Batteries") If you live in a private home, most often the choice of whether there are smoke detectors in your home, and where they are located, are up to you. There is no dearth of sources to help you learn where to place your smoke detectors. You can even take a short trip to your local fire house and ask them for their suggestions. Not only will you get excellent information, but you also add a bond and very well, could start a friendship with these wonderful men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect you and your family.

Recently though, NBC Night News ran a very interesting and important story about the two different types of smoke detectors on the market and how each one works. What makes this story stand out, is that the difference in how they work just might make a difference in whether or not someone survives a smoldering fire in their home. 

It is important to note the both detectors work, as long as the battery is installed properly and it is mounted in an appropriate locations as advocated by the many safety organizations, and even the manufacturers, on their instruction/installation sheet. 

The safest "victim" is an educated victim. Just like reading the emergency exit and safety card on an airliner, it is very important that you know how your smoke detector works optimally. So I urge you to visit this link, http://dai.ly/QdwFgm and watch the report. Then, make it your business to assure that:

1. You have working smoke detectors in your home.

2. You have a fresh battery in your smoke detector. Live by the safety promotion: "Change Your Clocks-Change Your Batteries"

3. If you cannot afford a smoke detector, drop in at your local firehouse. Not only with they most likely provide you with at least one free detector, they will mostly likely volunteer to come your home and install it correctly for you!

4. Have an emergency exit plan for your home! Don't rely on your front door or your garage door. Your children have probably learned the "E.D.I.T.H. - Exit Drills in the Home," at their schools. Review it with them and make sure you set up a safe place where everyone will meet after evacuating your home.
5. If you live in a multi-story home, evacuation ladders are available at reasonable costs. For most, there is no installation at all. They hook on the window sill and have stand-offs to make it easier to climb down the rungs. Both both two and three-story versions are available.

6. In the event of a fire or emergency:

     ***** CALL 911 FIRST!!! CALL 911 FIRST!!! CALL 911 FIRST!!!

   ***** EVACUATE YOUR HOME! DO NOT WASTE TIME BY TRYING TO COLLECT ITEMS. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! YOUR LIFE IS NOT WORTH THE MEMENTOS YOU MAY TRY TO RETRIEVE!

     ***** GATHER WITH YOUR FAMILY AT YOUR SAFE MEETING PLACE. 

How does that old proverb go? "An ounce of prevention is with a pound of cure!"

And on a personal note, I just learned that we at Dalmatian Productions, Inc. must bid a fond farewell to our partner and good friend, Joel Connable. Joel has been a vital member of the "resurrected" DalmatProd and was great to work with. His experience as a NYC paramedic, a volunteer firefighter, as well as a television news report and anchor, made him an integral member of the team. If you live in the Northwest, Joel is heading for Seattle and KOMO-TV. We wish him and his fiance, as well as his lovable dog, Lola, safe travels and a wonderful new life in Seattle.