The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has named the North Shore Fire Department of Wisconsin as the recipient of the 2015 Rolf H. Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant. The grant will support the continuation of the department’s “Prevent, Prepare, and React” home assessment and smoke alarm installation campaign.
A risk analysis of the seven communities the North Shore Fire Department serves showed that the percentage of adults 65 and over was above the national average. In 2014, NFPA awarded the fire department and local health department training through the Remembering When Conference to administer fire and fall prevention education to older adults. Since then the team has presented Remembering When to more than 300 residents and conducted 28 home assessments. Data compiled during the assessments showed that none of the homes had properly fitted smoke alarms.
North Shore received a grant from Wal-Mart to purchase 100 ten-year smoke alarms. Most have been installed. The Rolf Jensen Grant will assist the department in conducting an additional 125 home assessments and purchasing close to 300 smoke alarms.
The campaign will be evaluated using record management software to determine if there is a reduction in fire and medical calls for the targeted age group. The evaluation will also include follow-up surveys on residents’ knowledge of the eight fire and eight fall prevention messages of Remembering When.
Named in honor of Rolf H. Jensen, founder of RJA Group, Inc., now Jensen Hughes, one of the largest fire protection and life safety engineering and consulting firms in the world, the $5,000 grant is awarded annually to any fire department – paid or volunteer – to support a community-wide fire and life safety education program or campaign. Recipients are chosen based on demonstration of a plan to implement the program or campaign aimed at the general public or a targeted group, clearly stated goals and objectives, staff assigned for the project, and a final report.
