Plan and practice a home escape drill with your family

• How would you escape if there were a fire in your home? 
• What if your escape route were blocked?
  Plan two ways out of every room and plan them now - before there's a fire.
• Floor Plan: show two exits from every room, write down your outside meeting place.

Your Plan Requires

• A smoke detector.
• Escape routes marked on a floor plan.
• Family discussion.

Practice

• Escape routes - you must have two.
• Front or back door.
• Bedroom window. (Make sure it works. You may need a special fire escape ladder if the window is high up.)

Example of Single
Floor Plan

• Discuss the plan with your family. Place smoke detectors in hallways, near bedrooms and by stairs of ground floor. 

• Sleep with the bedroom door closed. It will hold back deadly smoke. Your smoke detector will sound an alarm to wake you. 

• Feel the door. If it is hot, use your second way out. If cool, open it slowly and carefully. Be ready to slam it, if smoke or heat rush in. 

• Get out fast. Crawl low in smoke. 

• Plan an outdoor meeting place so you can see if everyone got out safely. Don't go back inside once you're out. Make sure all family members stay out. People have died returning to a burning building. 

• Call the fire department from a neighbor's phone. 

• Draw your escape plan on a piece of graph paper. 

• Practice E.D.I.T.H. - Exit Drills In The Home by using the following steps:

• Everyone in bedrooms; door closed. 

• One person sounds the alarm. All persons feel their doors for heat. Pretend it's hot; use your second way out. 

• Everyone goes outside to your pre-planned meeting place.

• Assign one person to go to a neighbor's house to call the Fire Department, only call in the event of an actual fire.