The Heritage Legacy recently participated in an in-service safety awareness training session tailored specifically to assisted living communities.

Holli Sandeen, community outreach specialist for the Fire District of Sun City West, provided the training for 22 employees.

"Assisted living residents may have impaired hearing, weak vision or poor balance, and these physical conditions must be factored into developing appropriate fire evacuation plans for the residents," Sandeen said.

According to disaster plan experts, the biggest danger in an emergency is waiting, or not knowing how to react.

"Our safety awareness training touches on all aspects of responding to a fire in the workplace, from pulling the fire alarm and calling 911 to having evacuation procedures in place that all employees understand, including how to use a fire extinguisher," Sandeen said.

Heritage Legacy employees tested their classroom knowledge in an outdoor exercise that involved putting out a real fire using fire extinguishers. For training purposes, water was substituted for the dry powder normally used in extinguishers.

"When you grab the pin on a fire extinguisher, you must first turn it to break the seal holding the pin in place and then pull the pin straight out," Sandeen said.

Another tip was to point the fire extinguisher spray at the base of the fire, not in the middle or top of the fire.

All Heritage Legacy employees who participated in the yearly in-service fire safety training session will receive a certificate of completion from the Fire District of Sun City West.

For information on fire extinguisher training, call the Fire District of Sun City West at 623-584-3500.