EDITORIAL: Spring forward, change your alarm batteries

Published 8:59 am Friday, March 7, 2025

By Natalie Linder

Editorial

We spring forward this weekend, marking Daylight Saving Time. This is a great time to conduct a simple safety routine that could save lives. 

Change batteries when you change your clock this weekend.

Springing forward is a good time to change out the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that roughly 2,200 deaths and 11,000 emergency room related injuries each year. Proper installation, operation, and maintenance of smoke alarms reduce the risk of property damage, injuries, and death. Here are a few other reminders from the CPSC: 

  • The CPSC recommends that smoke alarms be placed on every level of your home, outside sleeping areas and inside bedrooms.
  • Carbon monoxide alarms should be installed on every level of the home and outside each sleeping area.
  • Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms once a month to make sure they are working.
  • Have a fire escape plan and practice it with your family.
  • A smoke alarm can’t save lives if everyone doesn’t know what to do when it sounds. Have two ways to get out of each room and set a pre-arranged meeting place outside.
  • Children and the elderly can sleep through the sound of a smoke alarm and not hear it go off, so a caregiver needs to be prepared to help others get out of the house.
  • And remember, once you are out of the house, stay out.
  • Also, consider replacing devices that are older than 10 years old.

And if you don’t have a working smoke alarm in your home, the local fire departments conduct programs periodically throughout the year that provide free installation of new smoke alarms by appointment. Call Baldwin County Fire Rescue at 478-445-4780 or Milledgeville Fire Rescue at 478-414-4030 to find out more details on the next giveaway. 

The two times a year we change our clocks also serve as a valuable reminder to change the batteries in our fire alarms and carbon monoxide monitors. 

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Daylight Saving Time starts at 2 a.m. Sunday when clocks are set ahead one hour. 

A few minutes this weekend could one day save a family member’s life. 

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