A house fire is one of the worst disasters that can ever happen to anyone, but unfortunately, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports 355,400 serious house fires every year in on an average, which is nothing short of alarming for everyone, whether they have ever faced such a situation or not.
Managing Shock
If anyone is unfortunate enough to be in a situation where their very home has been scorched, one can only hope that no one was injured or worse.
While the fire department deals with the fire, the first step would be for the victims to deal with the shock, which in fact involves multiple steps as mentioned next.
- If anyone was in the house, they need to be checked out for smoke inhalation by the EMT
- No one should be alone for several days after
- Take long deep breaths to calm down and don’t move around too much
- Do not try to assess the damage at that point; that comes later
- Know that the shock will pass, so just wait it out with near and dear ones till it does
Post-Shock Management
Once the shock wears off, everyone directly affected by the house fire will feel dejected, drained, angry and anxious; all of which are normal reactions. Exactly when the shock will wear off and when these symptoms will begin to make themselves apparent can vary from person to person, but the following should be helpful in managing them.
- Stay at a friend’s or relative’s place if you can; reducing expenditure is extremely important at this time
- Talk to friends, relatives and each other about your concerns, griefs and express them
- If anyone in the family is taking it particularly hard, professional therapy might be necessary
- Plenty of sleep, a healthy diet, and regular exercise are three essential components of managing post-disaster stress
- Avoiding alcohol and substance abuse can prove to be hard at this time; practice caution
Work with Your Insurance Company and Damage Restoration Team
When you are ready, it is time to take the necessary steps and repair the damage as best as possible, both literally, and financially.
Call a company like Service Restoration for a cleanup of the damage site, but they can do so much more than just cleaning up. A professional team of techies and contractors can work together to rebuild your burned down home, completely back to its former standing!
Restoration companies will actually work with your insurance provider, so you may not even have to pay for anything at all. As far as recovering from the material losses after a house fire is concerned, it doesn’t get better than that.
It is also important not to play the blame game, which in fact is a very common reaction. Whenever something particularly bad happens, we always look for someone to blame, and that’s a natural human tendency, which can even make us turn on our own selves.
Even if the fire can be technically traced back to a mistake made by someone, blaming them won’t solve anything, but will instead strain relationships, which is very easy to do at a time like this.