Advice & Safety Tips

PROFESSIONAL SAFETY TIPS

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We at Protect U Services have a few safety tips to help you protect your home and business from fire and theft. Our advice can also be utilized while traveling, especially if you’re flying or staying at a hotel. There are a number of security tips to keep in mind at any time. 

THEFT PREVENTION TIPS

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  • Use timers for both interior and exterior lighting when you’re planning to be away; good lighting is an excellent way to deter an intruder.
  • Use timers to turn on televisions or sound systems at different times in order to give your home that “lived in” look.
  • Don’t leave any valuables in plain sight from a window or door; this may tempt an intruder.
  • Don’t keep spare keys in obvious places like under door mats or above doorways.
  • Disable your garage door openers while away, many burglars have openers with common codes in them.
  • Avoid obvious signs of a household on “vacation.” Have someone mow your lawn, trim your hedges, or even park a car in your driveway.
  • Have the Post Office hold your mail while you’re gone. A full mailbox is a sign you’re not in.
  • Verify all your doors and windows are locked before leaving. Most burglaries occur during normal working hours.
  • For extra protection, add a cylinder bolt lock or a bar to your sliding glass doors to prevent it from opening. Also, wedge a metal bar or wood block in the track of your double hung windows.
CAUSES OF FIRE
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  • Fact: Fires caused by smoking materials kill more people than fires ignited by any other cause.
  • Fact: 23% of all fires are incendiary or suspicious fires.
  • Fact: 10% of all fires are caused by problems with faulty electrical distribution systems. These fires typically do the most damage, and property losses can be in the millions of dollars.
  • Fact: Open flames, embers, campfires left unattended, and even torches also create a high risk.
  • Fact: Forgetting about something in the oven, or not shutting the oven burners off causes over 200 house fires per year. 
FIRE PREVENTION TIPS
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  • Make sure your home or business is well protected against fire by installing a fully-integrated detection system by Protect U Services.
  • Practice a fire drill at least twice a year.
  • Store firewood, gasoline, kerosene or other combustibles away from your home if possible.
  • Have your natural gas or propane lines checked for leaks regularly, especially ones that run for longer distances inside your home or business.
  • Have a fire extinguisher stored on every floor of your home or business, and make sure everyone knows how to use it.
  • Store an emergency evacuation ladder on floors which do not contain multiple points of entry or floors that have only balconies or windows to escape.
  • Trim all tree limbs that are within ten feet of your chimney or that extend over your home. Embers from your fireplace may cause them to ignite unexpectedly.
  • Make sure you install screens with openings no more than ½” over all of your chimney tops, roof vents, or any attic or foundation openings.
  • Clean your gutters regularly. Dried leaves and evergreen needles can ignite fairly easily, especially during the summer months.
  • Most importantly, if a fire should occur, you must stay calm; this will greatly increase your chances of survival.
TRAVEL TIPS
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  • Always test your security system for proper functionality prior to leaving.
  • Make sure Protect U Services’ 24-hour monitoring station has up-to-date information on your account in case of any emergency.
  • Make sure that anyone allowed to enter your home while you’re away has the proper account information. (Suggestion: always put in a temporary system code for your guest to use, as well as a temporary system password for the Central Station).
  • If your children are staying at home, be sure they know all the basic safety essentials: the correct numbers for emergencies, numbers for relatives or neighbors, what to do in case of fire, and escape routes if necessary.
  • Make sure your children are clear as to whom is allowed in the home while your away.
  • Make sure your children fully understand how your appliances work in the home, especially the stove, clothes dryer, or any other electrical appliance.
AT THE AIRPORT
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  • Be awake and “on the ball.” It is a common practice of would-be thieves to accidentally bump in to you or your bags. This sets the stage for a robbery.
  • Be suspicious of anyone who accidentally spills something on you and then offers to watch your baggage while you go clean-up.
  • Only uniformed airport personnel should be handling your bags.
  • Keep your valuables with you at all times. Never take off any jewelry and set it down, or leave a laptop unattended while at the water fountain.
  • Ladies, keep your pocketbook close to you preferably around your neck so it is not easy for anyone to just pull it off of your shoulders.
  • Gentlemen, always keep your wallet in a front pocket. This will make it more difficult for anyone to do the “bump and run” pickpocket.
  • Always keep cash in a money belt. Don’t let anyone see the amount of dollars you have in the belt, Try to get the cash in a private restroom.
AT THE HOTEL
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  • Never leave your luggage unattended. Follow the hotel staff to your room.
  • Be discrete when checking in. Try not to let a stranger to close to you where they may be able to hear your room number or see your credit cards.
  • Verify the door to your room has a “peephole” for you to see anyone at the door, as well as a deadbolt lock.
  • Always verify with the front desk when hotel personnel come to the door.
  • Never leave your valuables out or even in your room dresser. Put everything of value in your room safe, even overnight while you’re sleeping.
  • Always “check” on the neighborhood before venturing off.
  • In case of a hotel fire, never use the elevators.
  • Before exiting your room upon a fire alarm, check the door; if it is hot don’t open it. Close all of the vents and air ducts and stuff them with wet towels. Put wet towels around the door as well.