Fire Safety Talk at SCC

Today we were joined by Steve and Louis from our local Sutton London Fire Brigade (LFB) for our Carers Connect Fire Safety Special. Carers come along to the Centre but also joined online.

It was a great session with lots of questions being asked and answered. We were pleasantly surprised at the local knowledge of our Sutton population and specific needs associated with having a Caring role and looking out for someone who is vulnerable.

We heard some stories which prompted us to think about the risk factors associated with our own homes and those of the person we care for. Like, don't leave notes stuck to the extraction hood above your hob (yes, we discovered you can get very complacent in familiar surroundings) so please keep your eye out for any risks, especially with the person you care for, e.g. possibly associated for example with hoarding, dementia.

Just a few of the fire safety tips that sprang out were:

• Fully extend the cables on extension leads

• Avoid leaving devices to charge overnight

• Use chargers from reputable manufacturers e.g. Apple, Samsung, rather than cheap imitations and look for British Kite Standard symbols

• Many every day items Carers come across including incontinence pads, air mattresses and oxygen canisters are highly flammable. And emollient creams can easily be washed from them from your skin, they are easily absorbed permanently into clothing and furniture etc.

• You'll be pleased to hear that Air fryers have a low risk of fire!

The main advice is prevention is better than having to deal with a fire, but if you have to, don't, just get yourselves to safety and of course dial 999. Always contact LFB if you are uncertain about something, you can even pop into your local Fire Station.

Don't worry if you missed today. Louis will be back for further talks, but in the meantime you can visit the LFB website for advice for Carers and if you want to book a free Fire Safety Check just give us a call.