As summer vacation approaches, children will have more time to wander around the house and get into trouble. Keep in mind that home safety doesn’t stop at alarm systems, or the main interior of your home.

Take the time now to organize your garage and tool shed with these tips so that little hands won’t have access to hazardous objects and substances:

• Use kid-proofing instruments: Treat the garage as any other part of the house you’ve already kid-proofed with outlet covers, drawer and door latches and other safety devices.

• Be careful with garage doors: Keep all garage door remotes out of reach, and look for models with counter-balance systems and automatic ones with features that stop or reverse doors when they come in contact with an object.

• Secure large equipment: Store ladders horizontally so children can’t climb on them, and keep sharp, large objects like rakes and shovels in a locked cabinet or secured on a wall in a low-traffic area.

• Hide harmful substances: Store and lock up all harmful substances so they are out of your child’s reach. If a child swallows a potentially poisonous substance, call the National Capital Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222 and have the product’s packaging in hand.

While you worry about home security, and staying air-conditioned and hydrated during the hot summer months, your pet may be suffering the effects of warm weather. According to the ASPCA, pets can also suffer from heat stroke, sunburn and dehydration if exposed to summer heat.

Keep your furry friends safe and cool with these safety tips.

• Routine check-up: Schedule a routine spring or early summer appointment with your vet and ask him or her about flea and tick control programs.

• Just a trim: Give your dog a summer hair cut by shaving down to about one inch from the skin and brush your cat more often than usual to get rid of excess hair to prevent overheating.

• Hidden hazards: Keep any household chemicals or substances like pesticides, and flea and tick repellants locked up and away from pets so they won’t ingest them and get poisoned.

• Cool and content: Provide your pet with plenty of shade to stay out of the sun. Never leave a pet unattended in a vehicle in any weather. Vehicles can become extremely hot quickly and cause your pet to have a heat stroke.

• Safe hydration: Make sure pets have plenty of clean, fresh water. Never leave pets unattended around pools or let them drink pool water, which has chlorine and other chemicals that can make them sick. Introduce them to water gradually and make sure that they wear flotation devices at all times when they’re on boats.

Spring, summer, fall, and winter each bring unique challenges to homeowners when it comes to home security and maintaining the safety of the family. As the seasons shift, it’s important to take nMaintaining Home Safety as the Weather Changesote of the changing conditions, and take the appropriate actions to combat the ill effects of Mother Nature. Below, you’ll find some information about each season’s potential hazards, as well as some ways that you can bolster your home security.

Spring: Spring brings extreme vegetation growth, and tall grasses can pop up within weeks of that first thaw. This can serve as camouflage for burglars doing recon for an easy entry point. Uncut grass is also a sure sign of an empty home, so you’ll want to be certain to have someone mow, especially if you plan on going on vacation.

Summer: Summer is a great time to take a vacation, and you’re not the only one who knows it. Potential intruders love the August and September, as folks across the nation head out of town for one last gasp of summer. An ADT alarm system is your best against burglars looking to breach your home security.

You’ll also want to be sure to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen; don’t forget that home security is applicable both inside of the home and out.

Fall: The fall can bring nasty weather to many parts of the United States, and in particular, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Don’t wait until the last second to figure out your options in the event of a hurricane or tornado. Instead, have a family action plan in place so that you’ll be ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Winter: That beautiful, fluffy stuff that’s coming down in sheets? It can represent a real hazard to your home security. Snow piled two or three feet high on a roof puts immense stress on the structural integrity of the your home, and can result in an expensive (and potentially tragic) collapse. And don’t forget that a driveway left unplowed while you’re on vacation is like a neon sign to burglars.

Each distinct season requires special consideration when it comes to home safety. Take the time to prepare, and help your family remain protected 365 days a year.

Have you ever heard the expression, “a team is only as strong as its weakest link”? While not universally true, it certainly applies to home security. By banding together with your neighbors, you can greatly bolster your own property’s protection. Along with an ADT home alarm system, this can be one of the best ways to keep your family safe. Here are some tips for getting your neighborhood watch group off the ground.

Start Small: Talk to your neighbors to the immediate left and right. This is the first step to increasing the strength of your neighborhood’s defense system. Discuss mutual expectations and concerns, and delegate responsibilities.

Expand Across the Neighborhood: Now that you have the backing of more homeowners, take the campaign further by going door to door. Don’t be discouraged if you get rejected from a few homes on your way-it’s their loss. You can also print up flyers if you would prefer to move things forward from a distance.

Home Security Meetings: Once the organization has been developed, hold a monthly meeting to talk about potential threats. Encourage your neighbors to openly discuss home security issues.

As a unit, your neighborhood can protect itself against potential intruders. By banding together, you can supplement stronger locks, a home alarm system, and other individual home security measures.

Packing for safety is key. It is important to always take along things like a personal alarm, a door alarm, cash carriers and passport jackets.  It is also important to keep everything important, such as money and documents, close to your body where they’re harder for someone to steal. Not in an inside pocket or fanny pack, but a money belt or harness that is worn inside your clothing. Especially when traveling overseas.

For example, a woman in the Paris train station sat her fanny pack with her and her husband’s passports, their traveler’s cheques, and their cell phone all on top of her suitcase. When she turned sideways to bend down beside the suitcase and look inside their backpack, everything was stolen in the blink of an eye. A busy train station with people walking by and bumping into one another was all it took for someone to casually pick up the fanny pack and leave my friends stranded in a foreign country without cash and their passports.  They hadn’t even purchased their train ticket yet, so they couldn’t get to the American Embassy. Their first mistake was putting everything they had in one central location. They should have each had their own passports on their bodies.  Each of them should have had money and traveler’s cheques hidden on their bodies. Their cell phones that had all of their phone numbers stored inside them should have been separated inside luggage and a duffel bag, and they should have had a back-up system like a written copy of emergency numbers.

Personal alarms can protect you if you’re out and someone tries to mug you or if you’re in a situation where you simply feel uncomfortable. By pulling a wire out of a handheld device, an ear piercing alarm is emitted that will scare off a potential attacker and attract attention to you. A door alarm will do the same, except it is like a bumper placed at the foot of the door that will sound if someone tries to gain entry.

If you go on vacation, especially to a foreign country where you might not be fluent in the language, be careful about what you pack. Make sure you’re taking the safety items you need to make your vacation a success. Do it right and your only worries will be how much stuff you lug home!

As for the safety of your home while you are away, ADT home security has been protecting American homes for over one hundred years. Their monitoring professionals are quick to respond. Remember to travel safe, and keep your home security level up while you travel.

Summer is winding its way down, and that means Labor Day is quickly approaching. As always, June and July flew by, and Memorial Day and the 4th of July are distant memories. You’ve kept your family safe throughout the hot days and nights, and now’s no time to quit. Here are some home security tips for maintaining that same level of safety for the upcoming Labor Day holiday.

Home Alarm - Don’t Forget to Set It: Your ADT home security system has monitored your home while you were away all summer long. When you go away this Labor Day, make sure you don’t forget to arm it. Burglars know just as well as you do that summer’s last harrah means vacant houses waiting to be picked off.

Fireworks – Don’t forget about Fire Safety: Have some fireworks left over from July 4th? Be careful when lighting them off, especially if you live in a dry area. In many parts of the United States, this summer hasn’t brought much rain, which means the risk of fire is greater than at any other point. Your home security depends on the wise choices you make, so take care and don’t play with fire.

Don’t Forget About Mother Nature: Folks in hurricane-prone areas should stay cautious, as Labor Day falls right into the prime time for late summer tempests. Have an emergency action plan ready, in case disaster strikes. In any case, you can feel secure about your home’s continued protection against intrusion: ADT’s four interconnected command centers mean that even if one location goes down, the system remains up and running.

Enjoy Labor Day, and remember to share these home security reminders with your family, keeping them safe as back to school gets closer and Fall approaches.

Many consumers automatically think of home alarm systems  when they hear the name ADT.  The reason for this is based on the company’s long history of providing the most effective and advanced means of security at rates that are affordable to everyday consumers.  The company takes a great deal of pride in their service and their reputation for protection.  After more than 100 years in business, ADT has made quite a name for themselves.  However, there are many consumers who are unaware of just how successful and effective the company really is and what services they have to offer.

While primarily known for home security and intrusion detection, ADT provides a number of services.  In addition to preventing and responding to break-ins, the company provides freeze and fire detection, critical condition and elder care monitoring, electronic article surveillance, video surveillance, and much more.  In fact, ADT is the largest provider of electronic security service to customers of all types in North America.

In addition to protecting residences, ADT is the security provider in charge of protecting the United States and British governments.  Many federal courthouses are protected by ADT security as well as many of the busiest airports in the country.  A large number of the country’s top banks and nearly all of the Fortune 500 companies also rely on ADT to meet all of their electronic security needs. ADT has millions of customers and thousands of technicians. These facts help bring to light how popular the company is, and shows how their reputation makes them the most trusted name in home and business security.

With their five strategically located customer monitoring systems within the United States, ADT is able to handle a great volume of transactions. The centers are staffed with trained professionals who are able to assess any situation to determine what officials to contact and how to best help the customer in any given situation.

ADT’s call centers are able to interact fully with one another, meaning that in the event of an emergency situation or disaster, any center will be able to handle traffic from another center.  This means that if your local center was bombarded with calls or there was a situation that rendered it nonoperational, calls would be rerouted immediately to another call center, where staff would still be in constant contact with your local law enforcement agencies.  This is yet another way an ADT alarm coupled with live monitoring can help provide around the clock security and peace of mind to homes and businesses.

Since it was created in the late 1800’s, ADT has always maintained excellent service and helped to ensure the safety of all its customers. It is never too early to help protect what is important to you with ADT home security.

Despite the frightening figures on home invasions and property crimes, many homeowners are still reluctant to invest in a home security system.  They feel that the initial installation and monthly monitoring fee is too much to pay for the security of their home and its contents.

Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t install home alarm systems until after they’ve had a break-in.  If your home is invaded, you may be faced with thousands of dollars in damaged and stolen items.  Suddenly, the cost of installing and maintaining a home security system seems much more reasonable.

Of course, not every home will be broken into.  There are plenty of households that will never have to deal with the shock of seeing their home in disarray or the confusion of filing a police report and insurance claim.  However, those homes can benefit in other ways from having home security systems.

Just the presence of a home security system can ward off some burglars.  Faced with the choice between trying to disarm a home security system and breaking into the unsecured house next door, most burglars would prefer the easier target.  Homeowners who let it be known that their home is protected may never have to rely on their home security system precisely because it is there.

Home security provider ADT has built up an impressive home protection system.  They feature a vast network of interconnected monitoring centers all across the US to ensure that if your home is ever in danger, they can react quickly.

ADT home alarm systems can alert the authorities for you if anything happens to your home.  Their security systems offer a fire protection service which can call your local fire department if a fire is detected in your home.  Even if you are away from home when a fire breaks out, your property will be protected.  The ADT system can also call other rescue personnel as appropriate for the situation.  In many cases, the authorities can be there within minutes of the alarm sounding.

ADT’s monitoring centers are manned 24 hours a day, every day of the year.  The employees monitoring the network are highly trained home security professionals.  If anything happens to your home, they can notify both you and the police.

Besides protecting your home and its contents, a home security system can actually save you money every month.  Most homeowner’s insurance providers give discounts for homes that are equipped with security systems.  For homeowners who are concerned with the cost of maintaining a security system, this discount can help to offset the monthly monitoring fee.

The decision to install a home alarm system should be an easy one.  There’s no better way to protect your home, your belongings, and your family.  The cost of keeping a home security system is very reasonable, and it’s even more reasonable when you weight it against the potential costs of a break-in or a home fire.  You simply can’t put a price on the security of your home and family.

The Home Safety Council hosts a wonderful website designed to provide awareness to home safety issues and educate your family on to practice home safety steps in your home or neighborhood. The Home Safety Council was issued a $1 million grant for Fire Prevention and Safety from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

As a result of this grant the Home Safety Council has been providing a series of Webinars on various fire safety and prevention topics. April’s Webinar is titled Fire Safety for Older Adults and People with Disabilities. Previous Webinars have been on juvenile fire setting, school fire safety, scald burn prevention and other similar topics.

Viewing these Webinars is an excellent way for your community to learn about fire safety. The Home Safety Council will send all participants a sampling of the Webinar material for free after each Webinar. For more information on these programs visit the Home Safety Council online at http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/.

There is no substitute for being prepared in case of a fire emergency. Sometimes even the best preparations are not enough to protect you and your family. A rapid response from emergency personnel is essential to getting your family out quickly and safely.

The best way to ensure that your home and family are protected for any emergency is to have a home alarm system with professional monitoring services installed. Choosing a home security service can be a difficult task. The two top names in the home security industry are ADT home alarm systems and Brinks. Take care not to simply pick one without researching the facts. It could mean the difference between life and death for your family in the event of a fire.

ADT and Brinks both have highly trained staff in their Customer Monitoring Centers that are prepared to assist you during any emergency. Both companies have easy one touch buttons to contact the CMC’s if you are in need of emergency assistance. Both have smoke and heat sensors to detect a fire early. That is about where the similarities end when it comes to immediate emergency response.

Brinks and ADT both advertise 24/7 home monitoring but is it really 24 hours a day 7 days a week? In the case of ADT it certainly is. ADT Security Services has a total of five Customer Monitoring Centers in different locations. Unlike ADT, Brinks only has one CMC. This leaves the Brinks CMC vulnerable to power less and natural disasters. Certainly both companies have backup power plans but in the event of a large scale disaster backup generators may not be able to work they entire time. When a call gets routed to an ADT Monitoring Professional it can be immediately routed to another center if needed. This means that your family will truly be protected 24 hours a day 7 days a week with an ADT Home Security system.

Another important area of difference is the way that the monitoring center is contacted. Both companies utilitize a standard telephone line in the event that the CMC needs to be contacted. Only ADT home alarm systems offer Safewatch Cellguard. In the ever increasing wireless age this technology is a wonderful enhancement to your security system. Safewatch Cellguard contacts the monitoring center using a nearby cellular tower. This means that the center will be contacted even if the telephone line is not working in your home.

In the event of a fire you will be unable to answer your phone. Hopefully you will be on your way out of the home at the time the alarm goes off. If you are still in the home an added benefit of ADT security systems is the ability to talk with the ADT associate through the unit itself. ADT can hear you speaking from up to 100 feet away from the unit. This technology is currently not installed in the Brinks security system. The comfort of being able to hear that help is on the way is sometimes all you need as you make your way to safety.

Take the time to research your home alarm options for the safety of your family. Check the Home Safety Council for information on fire preparedness and how to educate your family and friends. You will be glad you did.