We take life saving very seriously at the Red Cross. Whether it is CPR training or teaching a child how to respond in a tornado, we do it all… And this month, we took our life saving efforts one step further.
The American Red Cross recently announced a new national campaign to reduce deaths and injuries from home fires by as much as 25 percent over the next five years. The campaign seeks to increase the use of smoke alarms in neighborhoods with higher numbers of home fires and to encourage all Americans to practice their fire escape plans.
The Red Cross in central Illinois has a series of smoke detector events planned, and we kicked off our fire prevention efforts last Saturday. We partnered with the Peoria fire department and the West Peoria neighborhood association to check and install smoke detectors in neighborhoods that have historically had a high risk for home fires.
Getting ready to head out
Installing smoke detectors in one Peoria home
A volunteer getting preparedness information to share with families.
In just four hours, volunteers and fire fighters…
- Visited 147 Peoria homes
- Installed 38 smoke alarms
- Replaced 5 smoke detector batteries
- Provided fire prevention and tornado preparedness education to 54 households
- Assisted 19 households with the development of their home fire escape plan
Not too shabby for our first smoke detector event, and it appears our efforts were very welcome. We received this thank you yesterday…
“I just wanted to thank everyone involved, especially the wonderful volunteers who went door to door, helping with the “Smoke Alarms Save Lives!” program in our neighborhood today, Saturday, October 11, 2014. What a wonderful idea and very practical way to help people! I, myself, appreciate the installation of alarms in my home, more than I can express. You have my utmost respect and gratitude.”
americanredcrossillinois.wordpress.com 