Safety Source

Journey with Flat Sparky

Jennifer Smith — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:49:44 -0400

Everyone once in a while, most of us roam beyond the confines of our homes and offices and out into the world. NFPA's mascot, Sparky the Fire Dog is asking you to bring him along with Flat Sparky. These paper cutouts can be colored in, photographed and posted at Sparky's Facebook or Twitter (@Sparky_Fire_Dog), or by tagging NFPA on Pinterest. Bring Sparky with you to show off your favorite restaurants, parks, bookstores, modern art installations or just a great view.

Download, cut out, color in, and wander freely with Sparky by clicking here. Happy travels!

Remembering When featured on radio show for older adults

Lisa Braxton — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:00:00 -0400

Senior Moments Radio is a nationally syndicated program about care and services for older adults. Geoff Scott, “The Senior Bodyguard,” and co-host Cheryl Hartman interview guests on a broad range of topics, from how to avoid scams to pet therapy for older adults. I was asked to join in on their discussion the day the topic was fire and fall safety. My interview centered on Remembering When.

The co-hosts had a light-hearted but serious approach, peppering the hour-long show with jokes and self-deprecating banter, but also giving me the opportunity to talk at length about NFPA’s messaging and Remembering When’s eight fire prevention and eight fall prevention behaviors. At the end of the show, Geoff and Cheryl thanked me and said that they had learned a few things they didn’t know about fire and fall safety, too.

Two of every home fires begin in the kitchen

Judy Comoletti — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:57:03 -0400

I just opened one of my “Google Alerts” this morning and it included “Family displaced following Allentown (PA) kitchen fire”, “Kitchen fire in downtown apartment building leads to second alarm (Buffalo, NY)”, "Firefighters respond to kitchen fire at McCarthy Manor Apartments (Syracuse, NY)”, and "Firefighters
deal with kitchen fire in Rough Common (Kent, England).” The common theme is kitchen fires. This intrigued me, so I looked at each article to see what was happening in the kitchen for all these fires to occur. In Allentown, PA the fire was caused by problems with electrical wires, the Buffalo, NY apartment fire is under investigation, the McCarthy Manor apartment fire in Syracuse, NY was caused by unattended cooking, and no cause was attributed to the Kent, England fire.

With four kitchen fires in the news today, our 2013 Fire Prevention Week theme “Prevent Kitchen Fires” is right on target. It’s not too early to start planning for Fire Prevention Week. Some of the things you can start today are planning your calendar of events, selecting the materials you want to support your campaign and promoting your Sparky’s Wish list in your community. While you’re planning your activities to help reduce the number of kitchen fires in your community, don’t forget our community outreach kits. We have one specifically for cooking which provides you with media materials, talking points, PSAs and tip sheets for consumers. Don’t’ forget our safety tips sheets on cooking safety and scald prevention which can be great handouts for residents.

Good luck with your 2013 Fire Prevention Week campaign and be sure to let me know if you need any assistance in making this your best Fire Prevention Week ever.

ESFI Brings Safety to the Classroom this National Electrical Safety Month

Lauren Backstrom — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:03:13 -0400

Guest post by Brett Brenner, ESFI

Each year in the United States, more than 2,400 children under the age of 10 are treated in hospital emergency rooms for electric shock or burn injuries from electrical outlets and nearly 500 children under the age of 15 die from unintentional fire or burn-related injuries.

ESFI recently launched a new program titled “Be Smart about Fire and Electrical Safety,” which targets school-age children in Grades 3-5 and contains print and online educational materials that promote the importance of fire and electrical safety. Developed materials are aligned with National Education Standards in Science and Reading, require no advance preparation, and cover a broad range of topics that will help students understand critical principles in reference to fire and electrical safety at home.

The In-School element of the program features a classroom toolkit that provides comprehensive lesson plans and student activities to equip students with knowledge and awareness to help them identify and prevent fire and electrical safety hazards in the home. Over 100,000 of these toolkits have been direct-mailed to schools serving identified at-risk populations across the country. Students can also participate in ESFI’s national Fire and Electrical Safety Contest – and even have a chance to win at trip to Washington, DC!

ESFI has also expanded the popular Kids’ Corner section of its website. In the new video, P.I. Plug on the Road, ESFI’s beloved electrical safety ambassador, Private I. Plug, visits his grandmother’s house and helps her identify the electrical dangers in her home. Additionally, a new interactive activity has been developed to allow children to create and send e-cards with fire safety related messages to their loved ones, fostering electrical safety practices for the whole family.

These newly developed materials are central components to ESFI’s 2013 National Electrical Safety Month campaign, “Electrical Safety for all Ages,” which encourages families to take a multigenerational approach to safety. It is our hope that our safety materials will help families work together to identify and correct home electrical safety hazards.

If you would like to raise awareness of electrical safety in your community, ESFI will mail the P.I. Plug says, "Be Smart About Fire and Electrical Safety!" classroom toolkit to you free of charge. Simply send an email to info@esfi.org with the number of kits you are requesting and a physical delivery address.

Be sure to visit www.esfi.org for more educational resources for children and for more information on National Electrical Safety Month.

Fire safety with shapes

April Briggs — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:45:10 -0400

We use shapes every day as adults, although we may not realize it. Think about rearranging the furniture, cleaning out the kitchen cupboards or the refrigerator - all done according to the shape of the items in them, and how they will relate to each other. Road signs and markings make extensive use of different shapes, helping us to recognize them before we can actually read them.

Children are expected to know the basic shapes, recognize them and identify how they form part of other items. They may also be expected to be able to draw the shapes - not perfectly, but certainly recognizably. There are many ways to encourage and help your child to learn about shapes.

Because shapes are all around us, it is easy to play 'Find the Shape' at home, in the car, in the store and elsewhere. Select one shape at a time to concentrate on, rather than trying to find all the different shapes.

Make this a fire safety lesson. When you child identifies a smoke alarm as a CIRCLE shape, this provides a great opportunity to test the alarm to be sure it is working and make sure your child recognizes the sound of the alarm and knows what to do. Leave the home and go to your outside meeting place.
The RECTANGLE shape can become a re safety lesson, too. When your child
identifies a door or window as a rectangle shape, use this to review escape planning and the importance of knowing two ways out of every room.

For more ideas and activities visit sparky.org and sparky.org/parents.

Fire safety initiative for high-risk audiences gets underway

Lisa Braxton — Wed, 08 May 2013 08:00:00 -0400

Maly Son, director of Springfield Vietnamese-American Civic Association, Thu Pham, program coordinator for the Vietnamese Health Project, Mercy Medical Center, and An Rocco, interpreter and translation services, Baystate Medical Center at the Civic Association health fair.

The Springfield Fire Department, Springfield, Massachusetts, kicked off its “Multi-Language Public Education Fire Safety Initiative” with its participation recently in the Springfield Vietnamese American Civic Association Health Fair. The department created informational poster boards in Vietnamese and distributed handouts of NFPA’s easy-to-read fire safety materials. Certified interpreters conversed with the public about fire safety in Vietnamese.

The fire department, recipient of this year’s NFPA Public Education Division Rolf H. Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant, hopes to cut down on the large number of fire calls generated by immigrant groups, in many cases because of unsafe cooking practices or unattended cooking. The fire safety initiative will be conducted primarily at cultural and community centers geared toward Somali, Russian, Nepali, Vietnamese, and Latino immigrants. Certified language interpreters are donating their services.

Massachusetts announces statewide video contest winners

Judy Comoletti — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:48:08 -0400

Reaching high school teenagers with fire safety information can be a challenge. The Massachusetts Fire Marshal’s Office is up for the challenge as they announce the winners of their 5^th annual YouTube® Burn Awareness Video Contest. The contest is hosted by the state Department of Fire Services, the Massachusetts Association of Safety and Fire Educators (MaSAFE), and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. Using the power of YouTube, students are encouraged to create their own videos. They take on the roles of writers, actors, directors and producers. The project is coordinated through high school media teachers to help them reach their own educational goals while engaging students in a fun activity. Thirty-three teams representing twelve high schools participated in the contest this year. While all the videos were great, first place went to Millis High school for their video The Extinguisher; second place winners were from Norwood High School for Cooking Safety and third place winners were from Sharon High School for Allstate Mayhem Ad Parody.

The contest was open to grade 9-12 students. The project demonstrates how fire safety can be integrated into core standards such as English Language Arts. Congratulations to everyone participating in the contest. If you would like to learn how to implement a video project in your state, contact Jennifer Mieth.

Free printable bookmark for teachers and moms

Amy Lebeau — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:07:02 -0400

National Teacher Appreciation Day is Tuesday, May 7. It is time to say "thank you" to all those wonderful teachers out there. Sparky is celebrating teachers all month long. Student’s can let their teachers know just how much they care with our new, printable bookmarks showing “These are a few of my favorite things about you.” Just print and fill in the person’s name, a list of what you like about him or her, and your name. It’s that easy. We've also made one for mom, too!

Quincy Fire Department unveils their new Sparky the fire dog mascot

Lauren Backstrom — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:17:52 -0400

The Quincy Fire Department (Illinois) has introduced the newest member of the department, but he is a little different from other firefighters. He walks, he talks, he has a long nose and he has spots on his ears.

Sparky the fire dog made his debut to the Ohio Players' song "Fire" during a short press conference Wednesday at Central Fire Station. He will make his first public appearance Saturday at the Dogwood Festival Parade.

The Sparky costume was worn by Quincy firefighter Jerry Smith, who is part of the department's public education team. Firefighter Michael Dade, also a member of the public education team, said the department plans to use Sparky when dealing with younger children, especially in visits to area schools.

"Anybody that has kids knows that everyday when they come home from school, they want to talk about what they did," he said. "Firefighters coming in the middle of the day changing up their routine really leaves an impression on them."

Sparky will help present the department's Risk Watch campaign, which targets the children in the city.

"I think this is a little more kid-friendly way to deal with the younger members of our community," Dade said. "We want to fight fires through prevention. The more information that we can get out there to the most people is one of the best ways we can do that."

The Sparky costume cost about $4,800 and was paid for by money the department received from the Foreign Fire Insurance Board. The eyes can blink and wink, the mouth moves to the user's voice and programmed songs, and the user's voice can be modified. It also contains a cooling system.

"He has all these little personality traits that he can kind of use as we're talking to kids," Dade said.

Sparky has been part of fire safety and fire prevention for more than 60 years. He can be found in many educational videos and materials distributed by the National Fire Protection Association.

Fire Chief Joe Henning said the public education team has seen a renewed vigor over the last year.

"We've brought some new members on the team, and they really have been working hard to come up with new, different and innovative ways to take our public safety message to the public," he said.

More information on Sparky can be found online at sparky.org. He can also be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

Keep older adults in mind this National Electrical Safety Month

Lauren Backstrom — Thu, 02 May 2013 09:59:51 -0400

Guest post by Brett Brenner, ESFI

Although electrical hazards threaten the public at large, older adults are burdened with the gravest risk. Adults over the age of 65 are more than twice as likely to die from a house fire as the general population, and this risk increases with age. Those 75 years of age and over are challenged with a risk that is 2.8 times higher, and adults over 85 are at a staggering risk that is 3.7 times higher. As baby boomers enter retirement age, it is predicted that the percentage of older Americans will increase significantly, thus making a corresponding increase in fire deaths and injuries among older adults probable.

Electrical failures are a leading cause of home fires every year, and electrical distribution and lighting equipment fires have been shown to increase in frequency with increasing dwelling age. Homes with aging electrical systems are at a heightened risk for electrical fires, posing a serious risk for older adults who have remained in the same home for an extended period of time. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, half of the homes in use in the United States were built before 1973, which is long before many of the electronics and appliances we use today were even invented. Unfortunately, our increased demands for energy can overburden an older home’s electrical system causing fires or electrocutions.

Many home electrical fires can be prevented by using more up-to-date technology and by recognizing warning signs your home may be showing. Share these critical safety tips with your older loved ones, while also making sure you follow them in your own home:

Regularly check all cords, outlets, switches, and appliances for signs of damage or wear.
Use extension cords only temporarily.
Be sure that outlets that are not overloaded with too many devices. They can overheat and start a fire.
Look and listen for warning signs of an electrical problem such as outlets and switches that are warm, or make crackling, sizzling or buzzing sounds.
Always replace fuses or circuit breakers with the correct size and amperage. And make sure all circuits are labeled correctly.
Consider having your breakers upgraded to state-of-the-art AFCI circuit breakers. Keep the electrical panel accessible so you can quickly shut off power in an emergency.
Install smoke alarms on every level of your home. Place alarms inside each bedroom and outside each sleeping area. Test them once a month, change the batteries at least once a year, and replace the alarm itself every ten years.

These safety tips are part of ESFI’s National Electrical Safety Month campaign, “Electrical Safety for All Ages.” For more information on National Electrical Safety Month and for ESFI’s complete “Home Fire Safety for Older Adults” program, visit www.esfi.org.