THIS IS HOW YOU PROTECT YOUR LOVED ONES AND YOURSELF

Every 2 to 3 minutes there is a fire in a German home, for example. Even outside the home, there are many fires that could often be easily avoided. We have put together some important tips for different occasions.

AT CHRISTMAS
Never leave burning candles unattended - even for a short time! Only allow children to light candles in the presence of adults! Use pillar candles for Advent wreaths. Replace candles in good time before they have burned down completely! Place the Christmas tree in a stand that is as heavy as possible and filled with water, and tie very tall trees additionally so that they cannot fall over! Real candles on the tree must stand vertically and have sufficient distance from branches and decorative material above them. Always light candles from top to bottom and extinguish in reverse order. It is safer to use fairy lights.The Advent wreath and Christmas tree can dry out quickly due to heated rooms. Resinous gases develop around the branches, which can ignite explosively on contact with fire. Always have a bucket of extinguishing water, a fire extinguisher and a fire blanket ready in case of emergency!Extinguish all candles/open fires when you leave the house/apartment!Only extinguish a fire if this is possible without endangering yourself. Otherwise, close doors and leave the apartment with all family members. In case of fire, always alert the fire department - call 112!

ON SILVESTER
At the turn of the year, adults, children and young people repeatedly suffer burns, eye injuries and hearing damage as a result of accidents with firecrackers and firework rockets.

Only buy fireworks that have been tested. Look for the registration number of the BAM (0589) + CE mark! [j1] Make children aware of the dangers of fireworks and never leave them alone!Never put firecrackers in trouser pockets - they can ignite through friction.Keep a large safety distance from fireworks.Never ignite firecrackers or rockets from your hand.Set up New Year's Eve rockets so that they cannot tip over and do not shoot them from balconies or windows! Do not point rockets at people at any time - fireworks and alcohol do not belong together.Never tinker or manipulate fireworks yourself.Branches, balconies or other obstacles must not be in the flight path of fireworks.Avoid sparklers for the little ones, which can heat up to 1,200 degrees. Glow sticks or LED glow sticks are just as fun.Never light duds a second time!If the fireworks do not work, wait at least 15 minutes and do not approach during this time. After that, the fireworks can be placed in a bucket filled with water, for example, and then disposed of in household trash.Burning fireworks indoors is strictly prohibited.

IN THE KITCHEN

  • Never place candles too close to the edge of a table or countertop.
  • Do not use hanging tablecloths.
  • Always put electrical appliances out of reach of your child. Be careful with hanging cords!
  • Always place pots and pans on the back of the stove and cook on them. Always turn handles to the rear.
  • Secure the cooktop with a stove guard so that your child cannot touch hot plates or pull pots down on him.
  • Smother burning fat by covering it with a fire blanket. Never extinguish with water or a grease explosion will occur!
  • Keep children away from hot stoves and ovens.

IN SUMMER
In summer, heat buildup in cars becomes life-threatening to children and pets after just a few minutes. The magnifying glass effect can cause paper in the car to ignite and burn. Therefore: Never leave your child or pet alone in the car!

Never use liquid fire accelerants such as methylated spirits or gasoline - neither to light the barbecue nor to refill it, as there is a risk of explosion! Only use solid, tested barbecue lighters from specialist dealers! Always supervise the barbecue! Do not let children near the barbecue - keep a safe distance of 2 to 3 meters! Do not let children operate or light the barbecue! Keep a bucket of sand, a fire extinguisher or a fire blanket ready to extinguish the barbecue fire. Never extinguish burning grease with water, but by covering it!After grilling, continue to supervise the grill until the embers have cooled completely.Do not grill indoors and never place the grill indoors to cool down - risk of fire and poisoning!Extinguish disposable grills on the beach with water and cool them down, including the sand under the grill.Never bury hot grill embers in the sand after grilling on the beach - the charcoal will remain red-hot for days!

IN EMERGENCY.
The German Society for Burn Medicine (DGV) [j2] recommends the following procedure for burn accidents:

1. prevent further thermal damage[j3].
First of all, pay attention to your own safety, especially in case of accidents with electric current.Burning persons are extinguished with water or a fire extinguisher. If this is not possible, smother the flames with a fire blanket, other flame-retardant blanket, or by rolling the person out.To minimize thermal damage from heat storage - temperatures > 50 °C are considered harmful - immediately remove affected clothing and jewelry; firmly caked clothing (synthetics) are cut around.

2. pain relief and protection from hypothermia
To combat pain, you can achieve cooling with tap water, the temperature of which is around 20 °C. The following rules should be observed:

The cooling of the burned areas serves as bridging pain relief until the arrival of the rescue service. In the case of rescue service care, analgesia with medication may be required after cooling.Cooling should only be performed on patients who complain of significant pain in the burned area. Sustained cooling with tap water - for example, in the event of delayed arrival of the emergency services - should only be used for small burns up to about 5% of the burned body surface area (VKOF); in adults, this corresponds to about the area of the forearm. Prolonged cooling of large burns (e.g. with extinguishing water) should be avoided due to the risk of cooling.The risk of cooling is particularly high in children. Here you should carry out cooling only in the area of the extremities (if necessary, alternately in several areas); because in the area of the torso or head, the cooling can not be limited to the burned area.Superficial burns are rinsed extensively with water and the triggering substance is secured.

The temperature in the tissue normalizes rapidly even without cooling - after extinguishing, cooling therefore serves exclusively to relieve pain. Sustained cooling measures increase the risk of hypothermia, especially in patients under anesthesia and in children.

3. wound dressing
Burns or chemical burns are covered over a large area with a sterile metal-coated burn dressing cloth, which is loosely secured.No special dressings are required, as they often only contribute to cooling.Any type of local wound treatment should be avoided.Prevent further thermal damageBridging pain reliefLoose wound dressing with a burn dressing cloth.