Smoke And Soot Inhalation And Your Health
Fires are a common hazard for homeowners. Even after all their best efforts to prevent them, fires and fire damage does unfortunately still occur. Even worse than a fire on its own is the possibility that you can be caught in your home when a fire starts putting you and your family in grave danger. To keep yourself safe in this situation, particularly by avoiding too much smoke and soot inhalation, here are a few important tips that our team of experienced fire damage cleanup experts at PRS of Southern Connecticut in the Seymour areas recommend.
Smoke And Soot Inhalation Are More Hazardous For Some People Than Others
Certain factors can make one significantly more susceptible to the negative effects of smoke and soot inhalation than others. A few of those are lung disease, heart disease, emphysema, asthma, angina, and ischemic heart disease. If you have any of these conditions, you should be extra cautious if you find yourself in a house fire to avoid inhaling soot or smoke as much as possible.
Symptoms Of Smoke And Soot Inhalation
The symptoms caused by smoke and soot inhalation are about what you would expect them to be. At the basic level, it can cause burning eyes, runny nose, coughing, and difficulty of breathing. On a more serious level, those who have any of the conditions mentioned earlier experience chest pain, palpitation, shortness of breath, fatigue, wheezing, and extreme difficutly breathing. Some soot even has carcinogenic properties meaning that it bas the potential to cause cancer if it is inhaled.
What to do During a Fire
As dangerous as the actual heat from a fire is, the smoke resulting from the fire can be similarly destructive. If you find yourself in a house fire, it is important that you take the following steps to avoid the issues of smoke inhalation:
First, you should stay low to the ground as smoke rises. You will still inhale much more smoke than is healthy being low to the ground, but it is far superior to being closer to the ceiling. Furthermore, you may feel that running will be faster and, therefore, safer, but running in the smoke can make you disorientated and put you in an even worse circumstance. Next, you should place a wet shirt or rag over your mouth and nose to filter out some of the smoke you are breathing in. However, you may not want to do this in many circumstances. The wet rag will only buy you about another minute that you would have without it so if you don’t have a way to easily access one you should just move on. Last of all, if you find yourself trapped in a room and waiting for help you should cover all the vents, close your door, and block all the cracks in any doors using towels or clothing.
Our hope is that you never have a need to ever use any of these tips, but if you do, however, you will be able to act in a safer manner and the avoid the hazards caused by smoke and soot inhalation. Also, for any fire damage cleanup needs that you have to restore your home after being devastated by a fire, don’t hesitate to give us a call at PRS of Southern Connecticut in the Seymour area.