It’s ‘time’ to fall back, change batteries

Posted: Friday, October 30, 2009 8:58 pm

Americans should get an extra hour of sleep Sunday, if they remember to set their clocks back one hour before going to bed on Saturday.
Daylight saving time in most of the United States ends at 2 a.m., local time, on Sunday. Hawaii, most of Arizona and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands never change from standard time.
No federal rule mandates that U.S. states or territories observe daylight saving time, according to National Geographic News. The federal law regarding the time change first passed in 1918 and a 2005 revision stipulates areas that observe daylight saving time begin at the same time on the second Sunday in March and switch back to standard time at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November.
For the past 22 years, Energizer and the International Association of Fire Chiefs have used the “spring forward” and “fall back” changes in time to remind families of the simple task of changing their smoke alarm batteries through the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery® program.
“In today’s fast-paced world, we often forget to stop and do the small things in life that matter most,” a spokesman said, adding the simple task of changing batteries in smoke alarms and CO2 detectors at the same time as you’re changing your clocks could make the difference in surviving a home fire.
“Having a working smoke alarm doubles a family’s chance of escaping, thus surviving a home fire, but only if it works.”
“Unfortunately, changing the batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors is not always top of mind for families,” said Chief Jeffrey D. Johnson, EFO, CFO, president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. “In fact, while 96 percent of American homes do have smoke alarms, the sad truth is that 19 percent of these do not work due to worn out or missing batteries. So, hundreds of fatalities occur every year from a simple over-sight. The habit of changing batteries during daylight saving time is an easy task that can be the difference between life and death.”
Published in The Messenger 10.30.09