Many congratulations to Greg Smith, Dayton FD, for his diligence and hard work. His most recent public service announcement brought together GOFSEA, the Safe Kids Greater Dayton coalition, and the Ohio State University as one team.
The PSA is available for download as part of this post.
Fellow Fire & Police Department Member: [and members of the general public]
The members of Safe Kids, Greater Dayton are concerned about the import and sale of novelty lighters that resemble toys. Today, there are lighters on the market that resemble cars, animals, and even Oreo cookies. These lighters are very attractive to children with flashing lights or sound effects. AS a group we have found no valid reason why lighters are manufactured to look like toys. It is time to take the next step to protect children from lighters that encourage curiosity, invite unintentional misuse and place them and their families at risk.
Three things you can do:
1. Post an icon on your fire department’s web site that links to this novelty lighter PSA: http://www.theideabank.com/psa/NoveltyLighters.html
2. Write a brief safety message to parents and caregivers about novelty lighters. You may use the sample letter that is provided on the above website. Give it to your community’s elementary schools for distribution.
3. Work with Safe Kids to try to ban the sale of novelty lighters. Please contact Dave Fickler or Jalynn Winland at (937) 237-3619 if you are interested in being involved with the Burn Prevention Committee to ban these novelty lighters.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Dave Fickler and Jalynn Winland
Chair-people for the Burn Prevention Committee
Safe Kids Greater Dayton
I was scheduled to attend the conference noted in this email that I received, but was unable to go. However, I’m glad to have received the information from this vendor. I will state NO opinion on this until after people have a chance to see the info and discuss. I am curious to hear your thoughts, however. Please respond via the comment option here — or use the Google Groups email address: gofsea@googlegroups.com.
Here is the email message. I have posted two of their recommended videos here, as well.
It was our pleasure meeting you at the All-Ways Fire Safe at Home Conference: Best Practices in Fire and Life Safety Education in Washington DC. We were pleased to share and introduce our Safe-T-elementâ„¢ cooking technology that is engineered to help prevent cooking fires from happening in the first place.
As most of you know, Safe-T-element™ was a recipient of a Product Innovation Award for Consumer Safety from the Home Safety Council. In case you didn’t see this product in action at the Conference please click on the following link for a full demonstration. (use player links at the bottom of this post to see the video)
We are committed to working with you to help reduce cooking-related fire statistics in your high-risk areas. Please feel free to pass this information on to those who are vulnerable and do not hesitate to contact us so that we may assist with your programs in reaching those who are at risk. Together we can help eliminate these needless tragedies from happening in the first place.
I have attached some articles for you to review. You may have a publication or contact that you think would benefit from one of these. Perhaps the article may serve to impact your losses so feel free to submit or reproduce these and you may use Earl Diment as a contact.
For more information and to print out some collateral and information specific to the product please visit www.safetelement.com. We look forward to discussing Safe-T-elementâ„¢ with you. Thank you for reviewing the enclosed.
Yours Truly,
LairdLaird Comber
Director, Sales
Pioneering Technology Inc.
Tel: 905-712-2061 X 230
Fax: 905-712-3833
E-mail: lcomber@pioneeringtech.com
Here is an article that I wrote for our newsletter as commentary about recent reporting on a neighboring fire department’s response times. I think it important that we put things in persective should we be approached with the same questions and criticisms. We can look at things on an administrative level and talk about how much we do right — or we can be reactive and defensive. Or… we can prepare ahead and show that we are only one part of the puzzle. The community still has a responsibility to protect themselves.
Thanks!
Rich
ARE YOU PREPARED TO PROTECT YOURSELF?I watched with interest the story a local reporter covered about fire department response times in a neighboring community.
I observed that she pointed out that five minute response times are unacceptable and that three fire deaths were used as baselines for this opinion.
As a fire safety educator I find it unfortunate that the community is still being led down a path that the fire service can save ALL lives if they just get to the fire faster. This is simply the wrong approach to be propagating. True, some lives can be saved, but the fire department can only respond to the fire once they have been called.
Here’s my approach to this situation — and it has nothing to do with a “volunteer vs. career staff” comparison:
Most fire deaths are preventable — before fire department intervention is even needed.
When a fire starts in a home it begins to produce smoke. This smoke is full of noxious gases and vapors that begin to fill the room of origin. Carbon monoxide and cyanide gas begin to spread throughout the room and beyond if doors are not shut. Smoke alarms may or may not be in place and they may or may not be working. When a family has not prepared themselves (through practice) to truly know how to respond to the sound of a smoke alarm it is possible that they will not react properly.
Most fire deaths happen within just a few minutes from the start of the fire. Statistics show that the flames rarely kill the persons in question. The smoke is the killer. Persons that do not know to get out immediately will often perish. Persons that delay calling the fire department from outside their home as soon as possible are only contributing to the spread of smoke and flame. They are themselves delaying the help that could and should be enroute. Persons that have not prepared their escape before fires actually happen are going to delay getting the help they need.
Time and time again we hear of people that have perished after going back in to a burning structure to save their family members. If they and other family members had a plan in advance they would likely be escaping or at least protecting themselves while calling for help.
Fire departments can only come when they are called. Many fires that killed were burning and creating hazardous conditions long before the phone ever rang. Often persons that die in home fires died long before the fire department was notified. Fire department response times are very important, yes, but rarely do fire departments get a call the very second a fire happens.
As stated before — most fire deaths are preventable. It is every persons’ responsibility to prevent fires through good housekeeping practices, proper use of materials and equipment, frequent inspections of devices and environments where fires often happen, and proper storage of hazardous materials.
Smoke alarms do NOT have the capability of physically saving lives. They cannot jump down off the ceiling and pull you from a burning home. So, do you know how to properly respond when your smoke alarm activates? Have you taken the steps necessary to prepare yourself and family in the event of a fire in your home? Knowing what to do is not the same as actually being able to do it. Through preparation and practice you and your entire family can become better prepared to get out of a house fire. Why wait for someone else to save your life when the emergency happens? Prevent the emergency in the first place — and at the very least, prepare yourself to do the right thing before it happens.
Remember, fire departments only come to fight fires because they have happened. And, they only come when they are called. How long was the fire burning before they ever heard a telephone ring? Is it possible you could be dead before the call was ever placed?
Many of you may have already received this email. I thought it best to share with those that may have missed it or that may have lost it in their email filter.
June is Home Safety Month and the Home Safety Council invites you to set aside a little time to help your colleagues and community learn to live a safer life at home. This year’s campaign theme - Hands on Home Safety - encourages the public to take some simple hands-on steps to create a safer home environment.
As a friend of the Home Safety Council, we are inviting you to be among the first to sign up for Home Safety Month 2006 materials. By simply logging on to http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/hsmrequest and registering, you will receive a free Home Safety Month starter kit containing sample posters, brochures and more! We also ask, while you are requesting a starter kit, that you take a moment to complete a short survey at the bottom of the web page. Your responses will help us gauge program interest and assess supply levels.
By registering for your starter kit before March 31, 2006, you will also have an opportunity to purchase additional Home Safety Month materials later this spring. We hope youll join the Home Safety Council in helping the public become Hands on Home Safety!
Thank you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
The Home Safety Council
Bob Alexander has offered a list of dates for the Firefighter Phil presentations in Dayton. If you would like to see this program, please come to one of the scheduled sessions. Bob advises to arrive at least ten minutes early.
According to Bob, the presenter will be “Magic Tom. He will be available to answer questions if you arrive early enough.
If you believe that you will be attending, please contact Bob Alexander (937) 333-4662 or Greg Smith (937) 333-4524 at the Dayton Fire Department.
Download the schedule here.
Release Date: February 1, 2006
New Command and Control Nursing Home Simulation Now Available on USFA Virtual Campus
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Charlie Dickinson, Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator, announced today a new command and control, online simulation for emergency responders involving a scenario at a nursing home facility. The Q424 - Nursing Home Fire simulation presents the user with a kitchen fire in a two- story nursing home. Upon successful completion of this online simulation course, the user will be able to recognize the rescue issues related to this type of occupancy - those people who have differing medical problems and those people who are visiting.
“This simulation, with its nursing home command challenges, is designed to help command officials better understand the problems that may occur within nursing facilities during emergencies,” said Dickinson. “Homeland security and preparedness involves firefighters protecting all people living in all environments in this nation. Our senior citizens are too often the tragic victims of fire. This course will better prepare the firefighters facing the challenges present when dealing with these types of fires.”
Course objectives include safe removal of all occupants and containment and control of fire in the building of origin. National Fire Academy/United States Fire Administration certification will be granted upon successful completion of the course evaluations.
The course can be found on USFA’s Virtual Campus at: http://www.training.fema.gov. The USFA has many other training programs, both online and classroom-based, that are designed to assist emergency responders in becoming better prepared for all types of emergencies. Information on these training programs and other USFA initiatives and publications can be found at www.usfa.fema.gov.
This was sent in by Leanne Nash of West Carrollton Fire Department. She stated that it would be easy for people to focus on the “don’t” of this story rather than the DO. Sign on and comment if you would like to share your responses to this article.
Ohio Analysis: Homes With Smoke Alarms Have More Fire Injuries
by ROBERT RUTH
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Although it may run counter to conventional wisdom, Columbus residents are far more likely to be injured in fires when smoke alarms blare than when they don’t, a Dispatch analysis of the past four years found.
In addition, being alerted by a smoke alarm didn’t increase residents’ chances of escaping death during blazes, the fire data show.
Despite the findings, fire-safety experts say every residence should be equipped with alarms. “Smoke detectors save lives,” Columbus Fire Battalion Chief Douglas Smith said.
Marty Ahrens, manager of fire-analysis services for the National Fire Protection Association, added, “Smoke alarms don’t provide any guarantees. But you’re much better off with them than without them.”
One of the main reasons for so many injuries in detector-equipped residences is simple, Ahrens and Smith said. Because alarms often warn people when fires are still in their infancies, residents try to douse the blazes on their own. Such do-it-yourself firefighting often leads to injuries, they said.
“For some people, getting injured might be worth it, if you save your house and aren’t hurt too badly,” Ahrens said.
On the other hand, fires that erupt in homes without working alarms often are well under way when residents discover them. By that time, it’s too late to try putting them out on their own, Ahrens said.
The Dispatch’s analysis of Columbus fires from 2002 through last year in houses, apartments, nursing homes and other residences found:
* One person in every 17.3 fires was injured where there were no detectors or the alarms were not working. One person in every 13.1 fires was injured where there were working smoke detectors. In other words, residents were almost one-third more likely to be injured when they had operating alarms.
* One person in about every 106 fires died in residences with working alarms. One person in about every 108 fires died in homes with no detectors, or alarms that didn’t work. There was virtually no difference in the rate of fatalities between detector and no-detector residences.
The analysis included only blazes in which firefighters determined conclusively that residences were or were not equipped with working detectors. Such determinations could be made in 72 percent of the fires. The Columbus injury statistics are similar to statewide data collected by the Ohio fire marshal’s office. Although the most recent available state statistics are from 2000 to 2003, they show that people were 20 percent more likely to be injured in residences equipped with working smoke alarms.
However, the state’s data are markedly different involving fire deaths. Statewide, residents were twice as likely to escape death in residences with working alarms, the 2000-03 data show.
Smith said comparing city fire deaths over a four-year span is tricky. The data show a total of 31 deaths during that time.
“That’s a pretty small number,” he said. “A couple of fires where there were multiple deaths can throw off your analysis.”
Alcohol and drugs also play important roles in fire-death statistics, Ahrens added. If a resident is passed out from drinking or taking drugs, smoke alarms usually don’t help, she said.
Nationwide, 16 percent of the people who died in fires with working alarms were impaired from alcohol or drugs, she said.
In addition, another 14 percent of the fatalities involved people with physical or mental disabilities, she said.
“Analyzing these statistics isn’t as easy as it looks,” Ahrens said. “Smoke alarms are the most useful when people are asleep.”
Dispatch Assistant City Editor Doug Caruso contributed to this story.
bruth@dispatch.com
Box Story: The data
The Dispatch used information about 3,328 fires in 2002-05 from the city of Columbus to determine whether residences were equipped with working smoke alarms. In an additional 1,316 fires, no such determination could be made. Only injuries and deaths involving residents, not firefighters, were included in the survey. Of the 3,328 fires reviewed:
* 1,162 had working smoke detectors in which 89 residents were injured and 11 died. These fires caused a total of $13.5 million in damage. * 2,166 had no working detectors in which 125 people were injured and 20 died. These fires caused a total of $22.1 million in damage.
The statewide data covered fires in the 2000-03 period and showed:
* 13,188 fires had working detectors in which 936 people were injured and 52 died. That translates into one injury for every 14.1 fires and one death for every 253.6 fires.
* 17,387 fires did not have working detectors in which 1,027 people were injured and 150 died. That translates into one injury for every 16.9 fires and one death for every 115.9 fires.
Sources: Columbus Division of Fire, Columbus Department of Technology, Ohio fire marshal’s office.
Detector tips
Sources: Columbus Division of Fire; National Fire Prevention Association
Since last posting there have been two episodes of Home Safe 411 released:
Safety at the Gas Pump
Child Passenger Safety
Please visit Home Safe 411 at http://homesafe411.podomatic.com to hear or subscribe. Remember to tell everyone you know! Safety is a state of mind, let’s make it contagious!
President Curt Cobler received information from North Carolina about an upcoming FLSE conference there. The event will be held this February at Wrightsville Beach, NC.
You can download an information brochure. Additional info will be posted at www.ncflse.com.
