In the movie Still Alice, the main character Alice boils water for tea. It’s apparent Alice has Alzheimer’s and is alone in the house. The movie audience holds its collective breath until Alice remembers suddenly to turn off the stove. She is fortunate to have remembered the potential fire hazard she had created. In real life many persons are not so lucky to remember and, thus, to prevent a dangerous home fire in time. Is fire prevention on your list of top concerns for a loved one?
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) reports that the United States sustained more than one million home fires in 2013. These fires caused 3,000 deaths, 16,000 injuries and nearly $12 billion in losses from property damage.
Data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) show that unattended or forgotten items on a stove or in an overn are the leading cause of all home fires.
Anyone aging in place suffering from any degree of cognitive loss may simply forget the stove is on. Yet, even for persons who are not suffering from Dementia or Alzheimer’s, home stove fires are a hazard. Limited mobility and arthritic hands may make it difficult to turn off a stove in time to avoid a fire.
But keep in mind that distractions can occur to anyone and in any household.
iGuardStove means fire prevention
The iGuardStove is The Automatic Stove Shut Off Device which can prevent fire which can mean the difference between persons aging in place safely in their own home or having to decide whether to move into a retirement center.
The iGuardStove is an Automatic Stove Shut Off Device first and foremost The iGuardStove looks for and detects motion in a kitchen. When it sees you have walked away or forgotten the things that are cooking, it gives you 5 minutes to return to the kitchen or it shuts off the stove. When it sees that you are back in the kitchen it automatically turns on the stove and resumes your cooking. It is that simple.
The team at iGuardFire that designed the iGuardStove seek to protect people and provide peace of mind. There is also a Manual Timer for times when you wish to cook a roast or simmer a soup and do not want to have to keep checking it every 5 minutes.
Home health features
The iGuardStove comes in two models, the Smart and Intelligent. The Smart version helps keeps a person safe and independent at home with the stove fire prevention without use of the internet. The iGuardStove Intelligent provides the same stove fire prevention features and is able to connect to the home’s Wi-Fi and Internet service giving a great selection of additional features for safety and Home Health solutions. This model is very useful for families across the country or caregivers that travel from home to home to control and monitor stove use from placeswhere the Internet can be accessed. (See iGuardFire.com for information on advanced features).
One unique feature of the iGuardStove Intelligent model is that it electronically tracks stove usage and shows this data in easily readable history of the behavior of the stove user. This data is saved on a rolling 12-month basis and shows if memory loss is progressing and can raise red flags warning of erratic kitchen behavior. This valuable information can allow families to adjust the level of care or activate more safety features of the iGuardStove.
The joys of (safely) aging in place
Fire prevention in the kitchen is an important question asked by many children of seniors. For persons aging in place it is important to have not only the option to stay home, but to stay in their home safely. It is about being independent and retaining one’s dignity while making sure our loved ones are safe.
Special offer for Seasons.com readers
If you would like to purchase one of the IGuard Stove units for your loved one, receive 5% off by using the code “seasons”. Don’t forget to use the code to receive the discount.
Larger discounts are available for communities. Send an email to info@seasons.com to discuss a bulk purchase.
Sources
Bill Ferguson of iGuardFire, Telephone interview, September 15, 2016.
iGuardFire, iGuardStove, Available at http://iguardfire.com/, Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- S. Fire Administration, U. S. Fire Statistics, Fire death and injury rates (2005-2014). http://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/order_download_data.html#download. Retrieved September 2, 2016.