Are you prepared in case of a fire?

DAYTON (WDTN) - Jennifer Livesay spends her days taking her care of three young kids, making sure they are always safe.

That includes talking to them about what to do in a fire emergency.

"You do the best you can," said Jennifer.
    
For Jennifer and her husband Ryan, that means installing smoke detectors, talking to their kids about escape routes from the house and determining a meeting spot.

"If something were to happen and we needed to get out of the house, we meet at the mailbox," said Jennifer. "It's far enough away and we just figured that was a good spot that everyone knows".

In comparison to a lot of families the Livesays are pretty well prepared.

"Unfortunately, 77% of families do not have a fire escape plan in their home," said Jessica Saunders with Dayton Childrens.  "This is the time, this is the week, we are really trying to encourage families to do so".

Saunders is the coordinator for Safe Kids Greater Dayton and said you need to do some research because some of the rules have changed.

For example, you should no longer teach kids to "stop, drop and roll". That is only if they are actually on fire. Instead, use "get low and go".

Experts also suggest:

• Mapping out your home.
• Mark a window and door in every room that can be used as an escape.
• Choose a meeting place outside, away from the home.
• Get out and stay out.
• Teach your kids about 911. Make sure they know to only call once outside during a fire emergency.
• Have a grown-up sound the smoke detector and practice your family's safety plan.
• Keep your escape plan on the refrigerator. It will remind grown-ups to practice and help kids to remember routes.

"It's probably something we should do," added Jennifer. "Do we do it? No, but for kids I think visually, it would be good".

Experts said taking every precaution possible will only help protect your family in the case of an emergency because there's no such thing as too much planning and practice.

"Unfortunately, we see hundreds of burn injuries a year," added Saunders. "We are always trying to improve the health status of kids. We want to keep them safe. We want to keep them out of the hospital. Unfortunately, we see a lot of burn injuries and they are absolutely devastating".