Smoke alarms save lives!
I can remember sitting down with a mother earlier this year who
went to bed with three healthy children and as dawn broke the next morning she
was left with one. These two children
that lost their lives in a fire had a dramatic impact on this community. There was not a working smoke alarm in their
home, nothing to alert the family of the danger that would forever change the
lives of this family.
We have now completed our second Home Fire Campaign in
Clarksville. We are on a mission to not
only install smoke alarms in high risk areas, but to help these families develop
an escape plan. During our last campaign,
none of the volunteers could predict that they would play such a big role just
by showing up that day. They took on the mission to help, just to give
us a few hours of their Saturday, and in this small sacrifice the life of a
Clarksville man was saved.
We installed free smoke detectors on a Saturday afternoon. The
next morning a gentleman woke up early and put some grease on to get hot on top
of the stove. He sat down, fell asleep,
and was awakened by the very smoke alarm that we had installed the day
before.
It amazes me how we take so much for granted. This should allow us to take a good hard look
at our own safety and the safety of those we love. Check your alarms monthly and make sure they
are working and ready in case disaster strikes.
Think about the elderly that you know and pick up the phone or pay them
a visit and make sure their alarms are in working order. Be an extension of our
chapter and be constantly looking for ways to share the Red Cross mission to
those you come across. This single act of kindness will create a
sense of awareness and might just save a life!
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