Years ago, I used to teach first aid, CPR and home safety. These tips are still just as sound today as they were 25 years ago.

1. If your car has an alarm, keep your keys beside your bed. If you have an intruder during the night, hit the button. The alarm will scare him off. This can also work if you have a medical emergency. After your alarm goes off for a length of time, you have a pretty good chance of a neighbor either coming over or calling to check on you (or to tell you to turn the thing off!). I tried mine, and I can activate my car from all rooms of the house except those in the basement.

2. Keep your cell phone plugged into the charger at night, beside your bed. If someone cuts your phone line during the night in an attempt to silence an alarm and break in, you can still call 911.

3. Parents/adults should sleep with one of the homes fire extinguishers and a flashlight in their bedroom, located between the bed and the bedroom door. If a fire breaks out at night, you have a way to get out of your room and help your family. Keep your fire extinguishers charged and use the proper type for where they are located.

4. Have working smoke detectors and keep the batteries current. A good rule is to change the batteries when the time changes (twice a year). Most fire departments will help you install them or change the batteries. (You provide the device and the battery). I let them install mine after I bought them as I knew the FD was better trained to know the best locations to place them (and had a better ladder!!). In some towns, they will also provide the smoke alarms for elderly persons, people who are on food stamps or for renters.

5. Every parent should take first aid/cpr. It can also save time to know by name drug allergies that your family may have. Keep a list of your medications in your wallet on a card.

6. Keep the following in your first aid supplies. These are often overlooked and can save a life—aspirin and ipecac syrup. Study their uses and administer them (if the situation calls for it) as someone else calls 911 or AFTER you have called 911. Call for your help first, so they are on their way.

7. Make sure your family knows escape routes for a fire, hiding places for a tornado, and where to meet during a major emergency.

8. When out, don’t let little ones where shirts with their names on it. A stranger can lure the child away more easily by calling them by their name.

9. When in a crowd, moms find it useful to dress the family alike. Ours family still does it—when we go to the amusement park, or the race track, we all wear red t shirts. When mine were real little, I even went as far as to write my cell number on their stomach in ink—just in case they got lost. I learned this tip from a co-worker whose daughter was lost at the zoo. The security officer who found her told her to do that on their next trip.

10. Use common sense. It doesn’t hurt to keep poisons and cleaners up out of reach even if you don’t have little ones in your home. Outlet covers can also be of use to stop curious little fingers AND they can also act as a form of insulation for the outlet as well. Teach little ones how to dial 911. Keep medicines in a safe place (top of the refrigerator is good) and out of the bathroom. The bathroom should NEVER be used to store medications for 2 reasons: first, little ones are in there alone, with the door shut---and two, heat and moisture are bad on medications. Ours are in a Rubbermaid type container in the kitchen on top of the refrigerator where little ones can’t get to it. Irons should never be kept on the ironing board. Even if they are cold, a little one can knock it off and onto their head.

If in doubt as to the safety of your home, get down and crawl! Become the height of a 2 year old and see what you can find to put into your mouth, pull on, tip over, climb on……