Summer Home Safety Tips

Summer comes with fun, but it also comes with summer time hazards. As the warmer weather settles in for an extended stay, make sure you take the proper precautions to minimize the risk of summer injury or heat related illness.

Be Alert for the Signs of Heat Exhaustion

Heat exhaustion symptoms include rapid breathing, heavy sweating anf a fast, weak pulse. Heat exhaustion can be a precursor of heatstroke, a much more serious condition that requires immediate medical attention. Make sure to remain vigilant and monitor those around you, especially the very young and very old, for signs of heat exhaustion. If any of the symtoms arise, be sure to remove the individual to a shaded or cool place and offer plenty of water to drink until symptoms subside. If symptoms persist, be sure to seek medical attention.

Treat Sunburns Correctly

While sunburns can be easily prevented with the conscientious application of sunscreen, accidents do sometimes happen. Sever sunburns are often identified by redness, headache, fever and/or chills. In the case of a severe sunburn, be sure to apply aloe vera lotion or gel often. Do not bother blisters that may appear, these can be easily infected if popped, creating a serious situation. Blisters will naturally come and go as the sunburn heals. Do not apply home remedies, such as butter ect, to sunburns. These types of applications can complicate and infect serious sunburns.

Take Precautions in the Backyard

The backyard is traditionally a place that gets quite a bit more use in the summer than any other time of the year! It also means that backyard beautification takes place regularly. From the appearance of barbeques and lawn mowers to fertilizer, rakes and other garden tools the summertime backyard can be a potentially hazardous place, especially for young children. Take care to ensure that all gardening and landscape supplies, barbeque grills and accessories properly. Any one of these seemingly harmless items can make for a potentially serious emgergency.

Practice Extreme Water Safety

We all know that children should never be left unattended around water, even for a minute. Sometimes however, we underestimate the precocity of children. Pool areas that may seem otherwise secure, can sometimes be foiled by curious children. Aside from adhering to your regions specific rules and regulations regarding pool fencing and enclosures, adding extra protection and/or surveillance to your pool area is never a poor idea. Monitoring windows and doors that face the pool area with sensors that will alert you when opened, and installing alarm sensors around the immediate pool area can potentially save lives! If a child is missing and you have a pool - always check the pool area first regardless of how unlucky it may seem that the child entered the area.

Important Home Safety and Security Tips

Home burglaries are very common in almost every neighborhood. If you wish to spare your home from experiencing such a crime, you have to burglar-proof it. Here are tips that will help you secure your home.

Your home may be more secure if it is noisy and there are people in it. However, if you live alone or if your family has to be out of the house most of the time, you have to take certain alternative steps. You may leave some lights on. Remember to choose the lights that are energy efficient so that you won't have to pay too much on your electricity bills.

Sometimes, having the right kind of neighbor can be beneficial. A neighbor who cares about your family can help look after your home if you are not around.

You need to be observant of the happenings around you. You may notice suspicious cars parked across the street. You also need to be on the lookout for new people who are lurking around your neighborhood. Take note of what cars they drive, what the license plates are and how these people look like. These pieces of information may be essential to police officers when they need to get involved in the future.

You may feel more confident if you have the right self defense devices inside your home or inside your bag. Stun guns and similar devices can help you stop a home intruder or it may help you get away from an attacker on the streets.

When you need to be away for the weekend or for longer, inform your trusted neighbor. They need to know if you are expecting deliveries or people to come into your home or not. However, if you have to leave, it is wiser if you postpone any repairs or services in your home.

Leaving spare keys outside of your home might not be a good idea. With enough time, these keys might be located by any home thieves. Even if you always lock yourself out of your own home, you should not leave your keys under your mat or near a flower pot. You may leave an extra key with a family member who lives nearby, a next door neighbor whom you trust or with a close friend.

Having pets may also help keep your home secure. Dogs can be the best pets to have. They may be trained to bark and be alarmed when a stranger comes near to your home. Big dogs might also help scare burglars away.

As much as possible, never show off how much money or how many valuables you have inside your home. Burglars scout their targets and they will look for those homes that will them a lot of profit. If you have expensive items at home, make sure that they are secured inside locked doors or vaults. Better yet, avoid keeping them inside your home. A safety deposit box inside a bank may be the safest place where you can keep these particular items.