By WHITNEE ICE
St. Joseph Post
This time of year, can turn dangerous…and turn dangerous quickly…if safety is not taken into account.
The American Red Cross says taking time to properly prepare can keep you safe on these bitterly cold winter days.
Red Cross spokesperson Angie Springs says different safety measures are needed if you are going to use additional forms of heat to warm your home. . .
“I want to remind people of that three feet rule with a space heater. Make sure that there is nothing with in a three feet circumference around that. If their not in their room with the space heater, make sure you unplug it. Turn it off and unplug it when you’re not in that room. We also want to make sure people are safe if they are also burning wood in the fire place. Again, never leave it unattended. Make sure you have a safety screen in front of it, again to help from those embers from coming out.”
Springs says it’s important to stay safe in your home, but also important to make sure your neighbors are safe as well. . .
“Make sure as the temperatures are dropping and it gets cold out, that you’re checking on those neighbors especially the elderly, those perhaps living alone, people perhaps with disabilities, and maybe even those with children. That, again, as we see that school’s been out, we want to make sure that just everyone is staying safe. Kids are home for longer hours when school is canceled or maybe they’re doing remote learning and it’s, again just a time to check on our neighbors, make sure that everyone is safe.”
It’s important to make sure pets have what they need to stay warm. . .
“We also want to make sure that our four legged friends are also safe, so bring your pets indoors. If they can’t come inside, make sure that they have a warm shelter outside. Make sure that they have access to fresh water so that they're able to get something to drink."
Spring says to take safety precautions when out on the roads as well. . .
"Make sure that you have a disaster supplies kit in your car in the event that you were to get stuck along side the road. Make sure also that you have a blanket in your car. Make sure you have an ice scraper. That's something that's very important right now and also make sure that you're keeping your electronic devices charged, so that away when you leave home, even though most of us have the ability to charge them in our car, make sure that it's fully charged when you leave incase you do need to call somebody to come assist you."
Spring suggests downloading the Red Cross emergency App. . .
"Another great tool for people to have right now is the American Red Cross Emergency App. This is free to download and it is a great way for you to keep on track with what is going on around the nation with emergencies. It will give you winter weather notifications that come through. You can also monitor areas outside of where you live, so lets say you have family that live in a different part of the state and you want to make sure they are staying safe too, you can actually monitor their zip code too. It's free and it could potentially save your life."
For more information on staying safe during the winter months, visit The American Red Cross website; redcross.org.