ADT Home Security Tips to Help Keep Your Family Safe
Be Prepared and Have a Plan
- Install fire and carbon monoxide detectors on each floor of your home and near each sleeping area-The best kind are the combination models that detect both hazards. Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless gas that will quickly poison your body and kill you by preventing the oxygen in your lungs from reaching your tissues. It can cause damage to the brain immediately or up to several days after an apparent recovery. Always get checked by a medical professional after CO exposure.
- Keep detectors up to date-Change the batteries twice a year. Firefighters recommend to get in the habit of associating daylight savings time with freshening the batteries in your detectors.
- Think prevention and preparedness-Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, one in the garage, one by the grill on the patio, and another by the fireplace. Purchase an A/B/C model which begins at about $15. They fight oil, electric and dry fires. Read the tags and replace every 10 years.
- Have an Exit Strategy-Develop an evacuation plan for your family with at least two alternative ways out of each room, your home and your community. That way, even if one exit is blocked, you'll have an escape route.
Safeguard Your Valuables
- Don't Leave a key for burglars- Never hide a key anywhere outside of your home. Anyone watching your home will notice a pattern if the nanny, housekeeper or kids always go to the poolroom, shed or lift a planter before they open the front door.
- Airing out the house isn't worth the loss- A quick trip to the store, can turn disastrous if you leave the windows open and don't set the alarm. Before you've parked your car at the market, within five minutes, skilled criminals will be in and out of your home with your treasured valuables.
- Your house gets lonely- Going on vacation? Get a trusted house sitter, or arrange for a friend to come by on a regular basis to collect mail, newspapers, and change drapery positions to make the house look lived in. Invest in timers or sensors on lamps and flood lights. Leaving outdoor lights on all day is a dead giveaway no one is home to turn them off and on.
Keep Your Family Safe!
- Start good habits early- Always lock yourselves inside your home and teach children to close entry doors with the deadbolt. This is a good habit that will stick with them into adulthood. They'll pass it along to their kids, too!
- Peek-a-boo- Check who is at the door before you open it, and never open the door to a stranger without being prepared to react quickly. Be ready to either slam and lock the door, or keep pepper spray, or personal alarm nearby. If your home alarm's keypad is close to the front door, be ready to press the panic button.
- Understand the Code- Be sure that each family member understands and knows the code words for the live-monitoring home alarm system. When an alarm goes off, one code word means, "everything is fine." If the family is in distress and an intruder is present, a different code word is given that alerts the monitoring professional help is needed. The operator will end the live call as if the "all clear" code word has been given, then call the local authorities to report an in-progress home invasion.
- All in the family- Teach the kids that no matter how close their friends are, no one outside of the family is to know the code words. Unfortunately, when crimes have been committed and codes have been sold to criminals, a family friend was often at the root of problem.