Firefighting Course: Get Out of a Fire Alive

Firefighting Course: Get Out of a Fire Alive

The threat of a house fire is always present. A forgotten candle, a faulty electrical wire, or an overheating pot of oil on the stove can all lead to a disastrous house fire. If a fire starts in your home, you need to know what to do so that you can get out safely. We have created a list of top 10 tips for getting out alive when there is a fire in your home. When it comes to fire safety, taking the essential preventative step of firefighting training is your best way to be prepared and get out alive. EMCARE’s firefighting course will provide you with the skills and training to get out alive from a house fire if you are ever faced with one.

10 Tips for Getting Out Alive When Faced with a Fire:

A small fire in your home can quickly become out of control and begin to spread throughout each room. It can be easy to become panic-stricken, but acting correctly is imperative to get out alive. We have highlighted 10 tips for getting out of your home alive when there is a fire.

1) Call Firefighting Department:

The first thing you need to do is contact the firefighting department. This first step is important as you will ensure that professional firefighters and a medical team will be on their way to your home. When you call a firefighting department, provide them with this essential information clearly and directly so that they can respond effectively when they arrive.

1. Provide your full address.
2. Tell the firefighter respondent how many people and animals are in the home.
3. If possible, tell the firefighter respondent how the fire started.
4. Inform them whether you are trapped or if you can get to safety.
   

2) Remain Calm:

While easier said than done, it is critical to your survival that you remain calm. When you panic, you will begin to act irrationally and possibly place yourself in a life-threatening situation. By remaining calm, you can analyse the situation and figure out your best steps to take to get out of the house fire safely or put yourself in a position to be easily rescued by firefighters.

3) Shut Doors and Windows:

If the fire has spread in a section of your home and prevents you from exiting safely, you need to find a room in your house that is not yet on fire. It is recommended to find a room that has a window so that you can attract attention from firefighters or civilians outside, but you should choose a room that is a far distance from the fire and is safe to access.

When you enter this room, shut all the doors and windows. Oxygen is essential for fires to keep self-perpetuating. By blocking the doors and windows you will be cut off this vital supply to the fire and keep yourself to be protected.

You next need to prevent any smoke from entering the room. Cover any cracks under the door or around the window frame and block any air vents in the room that may allow smoke into the room. You can use towels, sheets, or pieces of clothing to block the cracks. If possible, wet these items beforehand for more effective blocking.

4) If Possible, Extinguish The Fire:

Your best chance at survival is to extinguish the fire as soon as possible. If you have access to your fire extinguisher, grab it and begin to extinguish the fire. When extinguishing a fire with a fire extinguisher, remember this easy PASS rule.

1. P the pin.
2. A at the base of the fire.
3. S queeze the handle.
4. S weep from side to side.

5) Stay Low:

The fire in your home will be producing smoke and potentially harmful gases depending on what is burning. Inhaling smoke will make it difficult to breathe, you will become disorientated, you feel light-headed, and you will eventually lose consciousness. You need to protect yourself from inhaling any smoke so that you can get out of the situation alive.

To prevent yourself from inhaling smoke from the house fire, it is important to stay low. Smoke and the other harmful fumes of the fire will naturally rise to the top of the room, so by keeping low to the ground, you will reduce your smoke inhalation. Drop to the ground and crawl through your home to the exit if possible.

6) Filter Your Breathing:

An additional step you can take to reduce your smoke inhalation is to form a make-shift filter for your breathing. Find a mask, a piece of cloth, or tear a piece of your clothing to wrap around your mouth and nose to filter your breathing. If possible, wet your make-shift filter for more effective protection.

7) Assess Doors Before Opening:

When attempting to exit your house to get to safety, you may need to go through a few doors. Before you open any door in a home that is on fire, you need to assess the door. If there is fire on the other side of the door, opening it will flood more oxygen into the room and exacerbate the fire.

To assess doors before opening, simply hover your hand above the door or gently place the back of your hand on the door to feel if it is hot. Never grab any metal door handles, for if there is a fire on the other side of the door, your hand will be severely burnt. If the door does not feel hot to the touch, you can exit safely through the door, otherwise, you will need to find a secondary exit route.

8) Do Not Gather Valuable Belongings:

Many homeowners make the mistake of trying to gather valuable belongings during a housefire. This can place you in a life-threatening situation by resulting in you getting trapped in a room of your home, getting injured, or inhaling smoke and losing consciousness. Your main priority is getting out alive, and thus you need to get to safety as quickly as possible.

9) Stop, Drop, and Roll:

Unfortunately, a lot of the clothing we wear is made from highly flammable materials. If you brush past the fire in your home and your clothing catches on fire, you need to act immediately to put the fire out otherwise you will sustain severe injuries. When your clothing is on fire, you need to stop, drop, and roll.

1. Stop: Stop all movement as the movement will increase the oxygen supply to the clothes that are on fire.
2. Drop: Drop to the ground in a lying position and cover your face with your hands to protect your face from injuries.
3. Roll: Roll your body on the ground to deprive the fire of oxygen to put it out.

10) Assist Firefighters to Find You:

If you are trapped in a room when your house is on fire, you need to assist firefighters to locate where you are when they arrive. If you were unable to tell the firefighters your exact location when you contacted them, or you have gotten trapped since phoning the firefighter department, you can follow these two steps to make yourself noticeable to firefighters.

1. Windows: Attract the attention of firefighters, medical respondents, or civilians by waving a coloured cloth in front of the window. You can additionally shine a light from a torch or your phone through the window. Do not open the window fully when attempting to attract attention, as this will flood oxygen into the room, but you can open the window a small crack to get fresh air and shout for help.
2. Noise: If you are trapped in a room without any windows, you need to make noise to alert the firefighters of your location. Avoid shouting or screaming as this will cause you to inhale excessive smoke if there is smoke entering the room. To make noise, play music on your phone or bang objects on the ground.

Firefighting Training To Get Out Alive:

Firefighting training is one of the best ways to be prepared for a house fire. In firefighter training, you will learn all the essential skills to avoid being injured by a fire, how to find viable safety exits, and what to do if you are trapped by a fire. By enrolling in a firefighting course, you can ensure that you will be adequately equipped to get out of a fire alive if ever faced with one in your home.

EMCARE Firefighting Course:

EMCARE is a health and safety training facility that offers a range of firefighting courses that will equip you to get out alive when faced with a fire in your home. Our firefighting course will provide you with the theoretical and practical skills to safely handle the stress of a housefire, extinguish the fire, and get to safety quickly. We are dedicated to providing you with high-quality training in our firefighting course so that you are confident in your firefighting abilities.

hen you enrol in an EMCARE firefighting course, you will enjoy a wide range of high-quality firefighting training options. Whether you are looking to increase your awareness and safety measures to handle a housefire or are interested in pursuing a career as a firefighter, we have the ideal firefighter course for you. We have briefly listed 3 of our firefighting courses that are suitable to ensuring safety when faced with a housefire.

1. Basic Fire Awareness Course: This EMCARE firefighting course takes half a day and covers the essentials of handling a fire emergency in your home. You will learn how to extinguish a fire, as well as how to prevent fires in your home and prepare the environment for immediate handling of a fire.
2. Basic Firefighting Course: The EMCARE Basic Firefighting Course builds onto the Basic Fire Awareness Course. You will learn additional firefighting techniques that are essential to staying safe when faced with a fire.
3. Advanced Firefighting Course: The EMCARE Advanced Firefighting Course is the ideal firefighting course for ultimate confidence and safety when faced with a housefire. This firefighting course is highly practical and will also cover fire rescue, which will be essential if you need to assist your loved ones during a housefire.

Every EMCARE firefighting course is offered by fully trained professionals who are both experienced at firefighting and are qualified to offer firefighting training. Our EMCARE facilities are all fully equipped to provide you with practical and theoretical training in your selected firefighting course. With EMCARE, we take every measure to provide you with the highest standard of firefighting training so that you are adequately equipped to get out of a fire alive.

Get out of a house fire alive with our top 10 tips and the excellent training of our firefighting course.