Media Release Apr 04 2008

Winter is on the way

On Sunday at 2:00am daylight saving ends and summer is officially over.

Now is the time to wind the clocks back and get ready for autumn breezes and the winter to come.

It is also a great time to check your home’s smoke alarms. Adjust the clocks, air the blankets and doonas and make a point of fitting new batteries in smoke alarms. You might want to make sure your fire blanket and extinguishers are also in good shape particularly if you have open fires at your place during the cooler months.

Smoke alarms, in particular, are life saving inventions. They detect smoke and sound an alarm allowing you and your family valuable time to leave the house safely in case of fire.

Most deaths from house fires occur at night when people are asleep. When we go to sleep our sense of smell also goes to sleep. Senses that would normally be alert are resting and may not forewarn you to a fire.

Smoke alarms are essential and a legal requirement in all Australian homes.

By law, at a minimum, smoke alarms must be on or near the ceiling for each storey within a home. They must also be located between any area containing bedrooms and the rest of the house or unit, for example hallways. If the storey does not contain bedrooms smoke alarms must be fitted on the most likely evacuation route from the storey.

All smoke alarms should be tested monthly to ensure that they are working. This can be completed by pushing the button in the centre of the alarm (for hard to reach alarms use the end of a broom to press the button), or you could even burn a slice of toast.

You and your family should plan and practise two escape routes. One route should originate from the bedrooms and bypass the kitchen and living areas. At night, the living areas and the kitchen and the most common fire start areas.

It’s important that all family members are accustomed to escape routes. A fun way to familiarise and practise fire evacuation is to hold time trials. Family members begin in their bedrooms and when given a signal must exit, using one of the routes as quickly as possible.

Smoke inhalation and asphyxiation are the leading causes of house fire deaths. Fires produce clouds of often toxic smoke and reduce oxygen levels in the house.

“The harmful materials given off by combustion injure the airways and lungs in three ways,” explains Dr David Joffe, Staff Specialist, Respiratory Medicine at Royal North Shore Hospital.

“Heat damage, tissue irritation, and oxygen starvation of tissues (asphyxiation), occur.

“Signs of heat damage are singed nasal hairs, burns around and inside the nose and mouth, and internal swelling of the throat.

Tissue irritation of the throat and lungs may appear as noisy breathing, coughing, hoarseness, black or grey spittle, and fluid in the lungs.”

“If faced with a house fire the safest way to get out and reduce the likelihood of smoke inhalation is to crawl on your hands and knees, below the smoke.”

Some people are more at risk than others from fire in the home:
• People over 65 years
• Children between zero and four years
• People not in the workforce (pensioner, home duties, retired, unemployed)
• Adults affected by alcohol

Now is the time, when the long days of summer are giving way to sharper, colder evenings, to fire-proof your family.

Have firm rules about smoking inside the home and have extinguishers and fire blankets close to hand in kitchens and living areas.

Royal North Shore Hospital is part of the NSW Severe Burn Injury Service with a special unit for adults. The care and treatment of those with severe burns is world class. But we hope you and your family will never need our help.

Media Contact: Kristen Bunyard 02 9926 7199 or 0413 025 742

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