OpenHouseNYC: Safety in Your Home

A double dip of OpenHouseNYC this week as I couldn’t resist sharing both of these incredibly useful episodes. 

First is a piece that shares how to prepare an emergency plan for you and your family:

As our host George Oliphant notes in this edition of Floorplan, New York is the safest big city in the world, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have a plan ready in the event of an emergency or disaster.

To help devise a plan, George visits with Diane Hoch. Diane is a homeowner and mother of three daughters, but doesn’t know a “go bag” from a golf bag and sadly is unprepared for the worst case scenario. In order to help Diane (and all other viewers of OpenHouse NYC), George visits with Amber Greene of New York City’s Office of Emergency Management for the three essential steps to get your home ready.

According to Amber, every resident must:

Get informed about potential risks
Be Prepared—Make a “go bag”
Make a plan for evacuating your home

Amber also suggests including 3 days worth of food and water as well as flashlights and important documents in a go bag for EACH member of your home. A lot of people who remember to make “go bags” often only have one for the entire home—when each resident really needs an individual bag.

After Amber helps George build his “go bag” he slides down the pole to meet with Anthony Mancuso of the FDNY. Mancuso reminds George that every home needs a working smoke alarm, an extremely familiar knowledge of the exits and an alternate exit plan through a fire exit or escape ladder.

Once George is a trained escape artist, he heads back to the Hoch home and helps them practice their emergency plan.

Do they learn well? Are you ready? Watch the video and find out…  

The second episode is chock full of tips on making our kitchens and baths safer for our children:

In this floorplan episode, George Oliphant meets with Geoffrey Belle of the inimitable New York Kitchen and Bath for some new interior design features that can make your kitchen and bathroom safer and child-friendly.

In the kitchen, Belle shares some new devices that are both technologically advanced and functionally safer. He shows George a new electronic locking function on stovetops that prevents accidental hot surfaces. He also demonstrates a new rotating oven control panel that is built into the oven display. Even the most mischievous of children will be unable to fire up the oven without proper parental supervision.

In the bathroom, some of the NYKB touches are more old-school than gee whiz, but still can make any bathroom safer. Belle suggests a matte tile or grout mixed with mosaic tile and then installing grab bars and safety bars in the bathtub and shower.

So no matter if you’re high-tech or low-tech, these tips from NYKB will undoubtedly make your home much safer!

If you haven’t seen OpenHouseNYC yet, check it out every Sunday on NBC4HD at 8:30am.