Prevention Programs: Consider Your Audience
FEATURES
FIRE PREVENTION
Death from fire incidents in resident rehabilitation centers and group homes are becoming a common occurrence nowadays. The reaction of persons with developmental disabilities seems to play an important role in the safe evacuation of this type of occupancy. That’s why the Rehabilitation (ReHab) Center of the Olean, NY, Fire Department wanted the residents to be prepared to react in the event of such an emergency.
Up until now, there has been a lack of fire safety training materials suitable for persons with developmental disabilities. To meet this need, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation, awarded the Massachusetts Fire Fighting Academy a grant to develop, in conjunction with the Department of Mental Health, a comprehensive safety program for use with mentally retarded adults living in the community. The slide/tape program developed is known as “In Case of Fire” and is available as part of the “Learn Not to Burn” series available through the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The program was purchased by the Cattaraugus County ReHab Center and the Olean Fire Department, whose Fire Prevention Manager Guy Bennett agreed to conduct it in the center’s two residences. Both of their facilities house adults with developmental disabilities.
According to the program information, “Group homes for mentally or physically disabled persons are particularly vulnerable because of the special needs of the people who live there. Residents are often limited in their ability to understand and respond to unfamiliar situations. And while staff usually are aware of the dangers of fire, like most people they may lack comprehensive knowledge of fire prevention and survival techniques.
Contents of the program stress the importance of planning and training in case of emergency.
Lack of these necessities has taken its toll in tragic infernos in community residences around the country. Seven young adults perished in an early morning fire December 5, 1983, in a Cincinnati group home. The confused actions of the residents were one of the main causes of life loss (see FIRE ENGINEERING, June 1984). In July of this year tragedy again struck in a Beverly, MA, dwelling. Fourteen residents were killed at an early morning fire in a three-story building used as a group home (see Dispatches in this issue).
Photo by Catherine Young
In most of these fires, according to published findings, lack of resident training combined with the residents’ physical or mental disabilities contributed to the number of casualties.
Although both ReHab Center residences are equipped with fire and smoke detection systems, and, in one residence, a high-intensity strobe alarm to alert the hearing impaired, residents still need to know and comprehend additional fire safety rules.
In New York state, community residences are required to hold monthly fire drills; but fire drills were becoming routine and even boring for ReHab residents, according to Community Residence Supervisor Mark Desnoyers. “We had run basic fire drills where the residents were never confronted with any hazards. They just exited the building. As time went on, people were getting slower and slower and really weren’t taking the drills seriously,” he says—until Firefighter Bennett blocked their exit with a mist similar to smoke during a surprise fire drill.
The residents’ reactions to the make-believe smoke were eye-opening to both ReHab Center and fire officials. One resident opened the door, saw the smoke, slammed the door, and curled up on the floor saying she was scared. Another resident walked directly into the smoke-filled hallway and stood there. People were running into each other and becoming disoriented. Behavior of almost all the residents was characterized by confusion.
However, by the end of the fire prevention program, residents learned to use a variety of evacuation procedures. Rolling out of bed, crawling under smoke, and testing doors for heat were the emergency behaviors able to be learned and performed in realistic conditions of a smoke-like haze.
In the event regularly used exits are blocked, residents have learned to use alternate means to exit the building. Decision making replacing the following of a routine is very important, according to Bennett.
A case in point is the story of a resident’s experiences in another home before he came to the ReHab Center. According to Desnoyers, ‘The resident was told over and over again that during a drill he should go out the door near his bedroom onto the roof and start yelling.
“The next time the drill alarm sounded, the resident was outside, so he entered the building and went up the stairs to go out that specific door, as he was taught. If it had been a real fire, the results could have been tragic.”
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During evacuation drills, residents were encouraged to help one another; however, it was stressed that they should never re-enter a building to save a friend. “That’s the firefighter’s job,” Bennett says.
Residents also learned that firefighters are their friends. “Some people with developmental disabilities have died in fires because they refused to go with the firefighter. The firefighter’s air mask and tank make it very hard to distinguish the firefighter’s facial features,” explains Desnoyers.
Bennett resolved this problem. “I had the residents dress up in full turnout gear including SCBA and related equipment. Each was brought to stand in front of a full-length mirror. It was important for them to see that they were the same person with that equipment on. I stressed that firefighters are their friends and are trying to help, so they shouldn’t hide from them during a fire.”
Residents then learned fire safety rules through a slide show, including how to reduce fire hazards. Smoking, cooking, electricity and other common household hazards were emphasized. All these activities were reinforced through additional group discussions.
“We can replace that piece of furniture over there if it gets burned, but we can’t replace you,” the group is told.
Firefighting organizations donated training aids and emergency equipment for the residents including flashlights and whistles. The residents were trained to shine their lights from bedroom windows and blow their whistles in case they were trapped by fire and needed to alert firefighters of their whereabouts.
Upon completion of the course, residents received certificates. A tour of the fire station is scheduled, and Bennett plans to provide continuous follow-up to the program. “The key is to keep practicing the skills learned.”
In order to make smoke-like conditions even more realistic, Bennett is experimenting with 75-watt color spotlights with flasher units and red and orange strobe lights, which he will play on cutout cardboard with aluminum foil to simulate flames.
Bennett also is substituting pictures of ReHab residents practicing fire safety in the slide show, and plans to videotape his sessions so that residents can see their own behavior and identify the skills that need additional attention.
photo by Catherine Young
