Feeling completely safe and secure in your home and out of it is something that starts becoming a priority as years go by. Especially when you do not have to think about yourself only but your family as well. Therefore, doing everything in your power to protect your home and loved ones is a must if you wish to have some peace of mind. One of the things you need to address is your emergency plan. Here are some pointers:
Make the outside of your home safe
If you live in a house like I do, you might want to secure your outdoor premises. Basically, first thing I did when I started feeling more aware of possible theft dangers is that I got a nice fence around my yard. It is not too high so it does not look like I am trying to hide something. But, it is still high enough that it would be fairly obvious if someone tried to jump over it. We got motion detecting lights outside and these always light up in the evening when someone walks around the yard. Even though our family dog Henry is getting old, the sign ‘Beware of the dog’ and his occasional barking are in my opinion great additions to the general home security.
Locks and alarm system
You must never neglect the protection of your house or flat itself, even if you think that there is no way for uninvited guests to step into your yard or building unnoticed. Combining the locks of my house with good security system was the best thing I ever did because it provided me and my family with good nights of sleep and made us completely relaxed when we are going out, thanks to different modes and settings such as Home Mode and Away Mode, that can be further customized and accessed from any device as long as you have Internet connection.
Safety codes and words
It is extremely important to be able to actually remember your alarm code easily, especially when in danger and hurry to quickly leave the home. Therefore, we as a family decided on the combination of our birth dates which involves one number from each member and therefore it is really easy for us to remember it but it would not be an obvious guess in any way to an outsider. Moreover, we came up with a safe word that we could give to the security center in case they need to check our identities fast as well as the unfortunate possibility when we would have to call each other for help. Simply texting a safe word is quicker and more efficient than trying to make a call.
Prepared for the worst
We had long talks as a family about worst case scenarios that could happen. It is of utmost importance to stay calm if you find your house burgled and leave immediately without touching anything to call the police. If you have kids, explain them that in this case they should run to the neighbors and talk to the neighbors about this as well so they would know what to do and who else to call beside the police. Also, thefts might not be the only lurking danger and I always keep the bag filled with necessities and emergency kit ready in the car in case of fire, with our most important personal documents safely stored away in a hard cover folder that can be taken with us in a second.
If you are a responsible adult you would not find it difficult to tend to all the necessary actions for home security. Also, remember to keep your home’s layout neat so that you would not trip in the dark when you have to leave quickly.
If you still fear you missed something and you are not sure how to behave in case of an emergency, I found this infographic by SimpliSafe to be quite useful.
