'Fresh water' flood coverage available Nov. 17 for new RSA Canada homeowner policies

'Fresh water' flood coverage available Nov. 17 for new RSA Canada homeowner policies

Make an emergency preparedness plan

Make a Plan

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Families can cope with disasters by preparing in advance and working together as a team. If something were to happen, how would you contact one another, how would you get to a safe place, and what would you do in different emergency situations? Planning what to do before a disaster strikes provides the best protection for you and your family.

Create a Family Communication Plan

Because you and your family may not be together when a disaster hits, it’s important to create a communication plan to help you and your loved ones connect and get help. Complete a contact card for each family member. Have them keep these cards handy in a wallet, purse, or backpack.

More Tips:

• Identify an out-of-town contact, such as a friend or relative, who family members can call to let them know they are safe. It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, because phone lines can be jammed. An out-of-town contact may be in a better position to communicate among separated family members.
• Teach your family members how to text. It may seem like second nature to some of us, but not everyone texts. During an emergency it’s often easier to get a text message delivered rather than a phone call.
• Subscribe to an emergency alert system. Check with your local health department or emergency management agency to see if there is one offered for your area. Post emergency telephone numbers by home phones or save them in your cell phone (fire, police, ambulance, etc.).
• Teach children how and when to call 911 for help.

Create a Family Disaster Plan

Planning for a disaster means knowing what to do in each possible situation. Whether you have to evacuate your home or you need to shelter in place, it’s important to have a plan ahead of time.

Before creating your disaster plan, it’s important to know what types of emergencies are likely in your area and the best way to respond. For example, if tornadoes are common in your area does your family know what the warning signs are and where to take shelter? Call your Local Red Cross chapter or Emergency Management Agency for more information.

Because different disasters may require you to go to different places, make sure you identify a meeting place in your neighborhood, a meeting place just outside your neighborhood, and a meeting place out of town. Review these plans with all members of your family and don’t forget to consider what you would do with your pets who may not be allowed in emergency shelters.

More Tips:

• Learn about your community’s warning signals. What do they sound like and what you should do when you hear them?
• Determine the best escape routes from your home. Find two ways out of each room.
• Find the safe spots in your home for each type of disaster. For example, during an earthquake you would want to practice “drop, cover, and hold on” under a sturdy desk or table. During a tornado, you would want to seek shelter in a lower level room without windows.
• Show each family member how and when to turn off the water, gas, and electricity at the main switches.
• Teach each family member how to use the fire extinguisher, and show them where it’s kept.
• Practice your plan by quizzing your kids periodically and conduct fire and other emergency drills.
• Check your emergency supplies throughout the year to replace batteries, food, and water as needed.

Additional Ways to Prepare

• Check if you have adequate insurance coverage to cover possible flooding or structural damage to your home and property.
• Install smoke detectors on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms. Test and recharge your fire extinguisher(s) and smoke detectors according to manufacturer’s instructions.
• Install at least one battery–powered or battery back-up carbon monoxide alarm in your home, preferably near bedrooms. Test the battery at least twice a year, when you change the time on your clocks.
• Take a Red Cross first aid and CPR class .

Stay safe

Darre Miller

Check out original post here

http://emergency.cdc.gov/preparedness/plan/

Fire & Smoke Damage (do's and don'ts)

Fire & Smoke Damage

After fire damage it is natural to want to jump right in and clean the building and contents. Timely action can be a great help, but incorrect action can jeopardize or impede satisfactory restoration.

DO…

• Clean and protect chrome trim on faucets and other brightwork by washing with detergent and applying a coating of Vaseline or oil.
• Blow off or brush-vacuum loose smoke particles from upholstery, draperies and carpeting Open windows for ventilation if weather permits.
• Empty refrigerators and freezers if electricity is shut off, and prop doors open with a rolled towel or newspaper to allow air circulation.
• Pour antifreeze in toilet bowls, tanks, sink and tub drains to prevent freeze damage if heat is off in winter. Call a plumber to drain and blow out all water lines if heat is off in winter.
• Remove pets to a clean environment if heavy fire residues are present.
• Send a sample group of garments for cleaning and deodorization in order to observe the results.
• Retain a contractor to board up open windows, roofs, or other penetrations in order to prevent additional damage.

DO NOT…

• Wipe or attempt to wash fire residues from walls, ceilings or other absorbent surfaces.
• Use carpeting or upholstered furniture impacted by heavy residues or debris.
• Use food items or canned goods exposed to heat.
• Turn on computers, TV’s, stereos or electrical appliances until they have been cleaned and checked

Have a safe day

Darren Miller

Original post here

http://catastropheserv.com/emergency-restoration-tips/

Don't Damage Your Reputation: Spread Love, Not Mold or Debris

At the beginning of any restoration job, there is generally a feeling of hope, trust and good will that the job will be done correctly and the disaster will be erased. However, all that can change with the flick of a switch if an over-aggressive drying approach is applied at the wrong time.

 It’s a basic principle of drying: air movement evaporates moisture and dehumidifiers extract the moisture from the air. So it seems logical when wet materials are encountered to begin the dry-out process as soon as any needed extraction is done. However, applying air movers in the wrong situation can not only make a job quickly go south, it can also land you in court.

Merely teaching a technician how to install drying equipment is not enough. They need to be taught to always analyze their surroundings and assess the potential side effects of turning on the air movers. It will save potential property damage issues, health issues, and customer confidence issues.

Here are some instances where technicians need to take a step back and assess the environment before installing the air movers.

1.  Sewage Contaminations

Sewage contamination can contain bacteria, viruses and micro-organisms and requires careful treatment when first tackling the job. The use of air movers while any of these threats are present can spread these contaminants that are not normally aerosolized. Unlike mold spores, bacteria and micro-organisms are heavy and don’t normally become airborne, unless aggressively disturbed during the remediation process.

A sure way to spread this stuff around is to throw an air mover in to dry before the area is completely sanitized. During the sanitizing process, the use of negative air or dehumidification is acceptable. 

2.  Mold Situations

Dealing with mold is a sensitive issue of which most people are aware. However, what many fail to realize is most mold isn’t even visible to the naked eye. Those beautiful colors you see when mold is growing on the walls are either the mold’s flowers or excrement (yes, something ranks lower than mold – save that for your next insult). So, unlike when you punch a couch cushion and see a cloud of dust rise up in a sun beam, mold can’t be seen like that. If you get into mold and don’t have proper containment, then throw in an air mover, you can’t even see how far you have spread the spores.

When mitigating mold, cross contamination can be prevented by using 6-mil poly containment and negative air pressure. Air movers must not be used for drying until the remediation is complete, because they would pressurize and cross-contaminate mold.

Again, be aware of your surroundings and check to be sure the HVAC system is shut down during the remediation. Both the supply and return registers should be covered as well. Leave no opening unaddressed, because you might just fill a wall cavity with mold spores just waiting for the right conditions to grow and prosper.

3.  Dry Debris Present

It cannot be stressed enough to be very aware of your surroundings when turning on air movers. If years of dry dust or dirt are present, it MUST be cleaned up first, or you will blow the debris around and where it settles can cause significant secondary damage.

A favorite case of mine involved a rather dirty basement with accumulation of dirt in several areas. The property owner repaired computers and had many stored in an unaffected portion of the basement. On went the fans without cleaning up the dirt and stirred up a dustbowl settling nicely into each computer. Whoops… there was some explaining to do on that one.

4.  Cluttered Areas

It may be a clean water source and you have extracted the water from the floor, however, the area to be dried may be cluttered in more ways than you think. Before you turn on the powerful air movers, do a quick “walk of safety” to check the walls, and surfaces for loose materials or projectiles. Often, pictures or artwork on walls are not firmly secured and shake, rattle and even fly off. This can cause damage to the artwork, the walls and any furniture/fixture it may hit on the way down and the contractor will have to pay for all of it.

Even in the absence of resulting damage, when you cause the property owners belongings to fly around, your trust with them flies out the window.

5.  Too Many Air Movers

A lot of air movers might look cool on the job, however, proper drying is a delicate balance between evaporation and dehumidification.

The case of the Mickey Mantle jersey illustrates this. Half of a home was damaged by water, leaving the other half untouched. In the unaffected area there was an autographed Mickey Mantle jersey hanging on display. The restoration technicians put in too many air movers and the dehumidifiers couldn’t keep up with the moisture. The result was secondary humidity damage in the unaffected side of the house and the autograph on the jersey became wet and ran, smearing the name.

Remember, restoration companies are cleaning companies, so be aware of your surroundings, keep things clean and orderly every step of the process and this will keep you out of trouble and keep the referrals coming. 

Have a safe day guys

see original blog post here

Darren Miller

Restorer's Perspective: The Importance of IAQ

The images of the aftermath from a disaster are often what capture our attention, but as the clean-up and restoration begins, a critical part of the process is what you can’t see.

While many contractors and businesses go into the air duct cleaning industry as an affordable option for increasing revenue, the restoration industry has a unique position because of how important it is for providing a thorough cleaning.

While air ducts naturally accumulate particles and pollutants, those levels reach new heights after fire, smoke, or water-related damage. While routine cleaning is encouraged, air duct cleaning is a necessity following any disaster or damage in a home or business. Since air ducts are hidden, the damage and effect can be easy for consumers, and even contractors, to overlook.

Failing to properly clean the air ducts after a disaster can have many implications for the property owner including impacting the indoor air quality and causing further harm to the heating and cooling system. Any remnants left in the air ducts could be transferred throughout the HVAC system and reenter the indoor environment. According to the National Air Duct Cleaning Association (NACDA), pollutants in the home can be pulled into the HVAC system and recirculated up to seven times a day, on average. Since 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has consistently ranked indoor air pollution as one of the top five environmental risks to public health.

In situations with water damage, there is also the risk for mold to develop and grow if not properly addressed.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the World Health Organization, and Health Canada all agree living or working in a building with mold damage increases the risk of respiratory disease.

There are many portable systems available that make it easier to transport, can be operated by one person and are compact enough to navigate through smaller spaces such as attics and crawl spaces.

When purchasing equipment, it’s important to find a company that provides adequate training and support to ensure contractors understand the correct and most effective way to use the equipment perform air duct cleaning. Inadequate training can result in releasing the contaminants back into the air inside the home.

For homeowners, the services are covered by insurance so they won’t feel the extra cost and they’ll rest easier knowing their indoor air quality isn’t affected by the residuals. They will also have greater confidence in the future performance of their HVAC equipment. By not providing a proper cleaning, the homeowner could face potential issues with the performance of their HVAC system and cause an increase in energy bills.

Offering air duct cleaning can give contractors a competitive advantage. Indoor air quality is increasingly becoming a concern for homeowners and facility managers, whether or not there has been a disaster on the property.

We all strive for customer satisfaction. With the growing importance of indoor air quality, be sure to include air duct cleaning in your restoration services.  

Have a safe day

see original article here

Darren Miller