Newburyport, Massachusetts. A new program will help ensure the thousands of U.S. college students studying abroad this year to remain safer from fire. “Passport to Fire Safety” launches today at universities throughout the U.S. and will provide students with products such as smoke alarms and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms as part of their travel preparations.
“Passport to Fire Safety” was conceived earlier this year by a coalition of fire safety organizations including The Center for Campus Fire Safety, Kidde Fire Safety, and the Jasmine Jahanshahi Fire Safety Foundation, as well as The George Washington University, and launched in September during National Campus Fire Safety Month.
In 2011, Jasmine died in a Paris fire that killed three other exchange students and seriously injured dozens more. The residence did not have working smoke alarms. “For many students, the opportunity to study abroad is a highlight of their collegiate experience,” said Tom Hayden, supervisor of health and safety
inspections, the George Washington University. “While preparation often centers around personal safety and cultural differences, students and families may overlook the risk of fires in countries where smoke alarms and other fire safety devices may not be required to be in homes or up-to-date.”
The program will focus initially on students studying in Europe. Students and universities can visit the coalition’s Web site: www.passporttofiresafety.org to choose from a variety of battery-powered smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms, including models with sealed, 10-year batteries. Once purchased, the alarms and a multilingual installation manual–written in English and the host country’s native language–will be shipped to the address where the student is residing.
“This program is unique in that it will help get the appropriate fire safety products installed into the homes when a student is living there,” said Paul Martin, president of The Center for Campus Fire Safety, a worldwide non-profit organization and the leading authority on campus fire safety risks. “Fire safety standards differ drastically from country to country, and navigating those can be confusing. This program helps simplify that issue while also helping keep our students safe until they return home.”
Learn more at www.passporttofiresafety.org.
To learn more about The Center and its programs, visit www.campusfiresafety.org.
