Public Education: Its time has come, again!

BY RONALD E. KANTERMAN AND FRANK D’AMORE JR.

It’s time to get down to the real root cause of fire in America. The United States has the worst civilian fire death record of all industrialized nations despite technological improvements in protective gear and equipment and progress in code development. It’s not necessarily technology that makes the difference when it comes to fire prevention. The critical factor is people, what we refer to as the “human factor.” Many folks (try an informal poll among your friends, neighbors, and family members) seem to believe that they will be the victim of a crime but not of a fire. Yet, it has been estimated that “unfriendly fire” will visit Americans at least twice during their lifetime.

It’s time to take this message to the streets. Often, we see firefighters and private individuals who have had “significant emotional events” (SEEs) take this path. One example of this is Vina Drennan, widow of John Drennan, a Fire Department of New York captain who died with two other FDNY firefighters in a residential structure fire because the people who lived in the fire apartment left bags of trash on the stove, where they were ignited by a pilot light. Vina Drennan has now taken the public fire safety education platform and travels the country “spreading the gospel.” Basically, the couple who put the bags on the stove “didn’t realize it [a fire] could happen.” They are not stupid, just ill-informed.

Most Americans are indifferent to fire. The American Medical Association noted in its Journal in 1994 that America is moving from a system designed to care for illness to one that emphasizes wellness, necessitating that the “measuring rod of success” be changed. The article’s author noted that, in that context, “Injury prevention takes on a new and more important dimension, not only for improving the health of the nation, but also in the ability to truly control health care.” Have you seen the cost of burn injury treatment or any hospitalization lately? We agree with Dr. Ricardo, the author of the article.

Following are two programs you can use to get started in your goal of “getting the word back out on the street.” They can be modified to fit your community’s needs.

S.E.L.F.-STUDENT EMERGENCIES IN LIFE AND FIRE

This program, which incorporates the ideas of Assistant Chief Robert Yaiser (ret.) of Merck Emergency Services, Rahway, New Jersey, and information from the Federal Emergency Management Agency/U.S. Fire Administration, was developed as a result of the tragic January 2000 Seton Hall University (South Orange, New Jersey) dormitory fire that killed three students and injured 56. A good fire safety education program may have saved these three students and prevented the pain of the surviving burn victims.

It’s ironic that young grade school children can tell you what to do in a fire emergency, but adults can’t. As people grow older, they forget what they should do or simply become indifferent about fire safety.

In most jurisdictions, fire safety education stops at around the sixth grade. We’re missing the boat. It’s got to be a lifetime of instruction, reminders, and vigilance on the part of the fire service. Fire safety education should continue through high school (probably the toughest audience of all) and college.

At the college level, fire safety education should start at freshman orientation and develop into a comprehensive education program as the students progress toward graduation day.¹ Prior to freshmen orientation, when they’re first shopping, parents have to start asking these institutions, “Are your dormitories sprinklered? Do you have smoke alarms and evacuation systems? Are they monitored 24 hours a day? Are there ambulance services on campus or nearby? How many fire responses were there to the campus last year? Within the past five years?”

Parents spend the first 18 years of their children’s lives protecting them. Now they send them off to college and put their lives in others’ hands. The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) published a video on campus fire safety which, ironically, was released just after the Seton Hall University fire. We at Merck took some information from the tape and created overhead transparencies, which we use for lectures. We also use National Fire Protection Association and USFA statistics pertaining to college and dormitory fire safety.

The presentation can be designed for high school juniors and seniors and-more importantly-their parents and offered as a student assembly or PTA meeting program. Seize the opportunity to deliver the message wherever the school administration will let you in.

Lesson Plan for College and Dormitory Fire Safety

Objective: To reinforce fire and life safety lessons to those students who will be leaving high school and entering the college environment. These lessons hopefully will be used through the college years and into adulthood. They will also apply to the workplace. Delivery time is approximately one hour.

Method: This class will consist of lecture, overhead transparencies or PowerPointT slides, the USFA video, and some hands-on demonstrations.

Equipment: Overhead projector; VCR with TV or, for bigger venues, an LCD projector; a laptop if PowerPointT is used; blackout mask; cassette player with background noises.

Opening Remarks: Introduce yourself. Give your qualifications, but don’t bore the audience. Use terms the young people use, or refer to a music group with which they identify; use anything that will help you catch and keep their attention. Stress the importance of the subject matter. Dress for success (whatever the standards are in your fire department-Class A uniform or jacket and tie-be neat, pressed, and dressed for the game).

Opening Questions: (Show the overhead projector or PowerPointT slides; read them to the audience as they come up.)

• Ask: How many of you have been personally affected by fire?

Call on someone who has his hand up; ask him to tell his story.

Follow up with these questions: Were you scared? Was it dark? Did you have time? Did anyone get hurt or die-people or pets? Did you lose items that were of personal value to you?

This method will help the other students in the audience to identify with the problem, since they are hearing it from one of their peers.

• Ask the following questions; present the answer choices (the correct answer is in boldface).

Q. What’s the most common cause of the death in a fire?

a. burns, b. asphyxiation, c. internal drowning, d. flames

Q. If you awoke to fire or smoke in your bedroom dorm room, fraternity house, or other living area, about how much time would you have to escape?

a. 20 min., b. 15 min., c. 5 min., d. 1 min.

Q. How long does it take for a fire to get “out of control”?

a. 20 min., b. 10 min., c. 1 min., d. 30 seconds

Q. How hot does an average house fire (bedroom or living room) get once the room is fully involved in fire?

a. 500 degrees, b. 1,000 degrees, c. 1,400 degrees, d. 200 degrees

• Go over some of the most common causes of fire on a campus: alcohol, smoking, candles, portable heat, electrical overload, arson, bonfires, cooking, coffee pots, hot plates, carelessness.
• Make these important points (verbally, projected on a screen, or both).

-Fire grows so rapidly; the only thing to do is to try to escape.
-Complacency kills; react to alarms, don’t question them.
-Once you get out, stay out.
-Leave everything. Nothing is worth your life.
-If your dorm or off-campus apartment has no smoke detectors, get them and install them properly. Change the batteries twice a year, when you change your clocks.
-Know at least two ways out, and plan your exits before a fire breaks out.
-Participate in fire drills.
-Become trained in the use of a fire extinguisher. Don’t use it for the first time in an emergency. If the fire isn’t extinguished by one unit, retreat immediately. Never put the fire between you and the way out.
-Crawl low in smoke, and feel doors for heat prior to opening them.
-Fire is hot, dark, and deadly.
-Appoint a “party watch” whose primary job is to ensure that smoking materials are extinguished, candles are out, lights are shut, and so on. Volunteer to be the first “party watch” person in your dorm or frat house. You could impact more lives than a designated driver.

Practical Demonstration

Ask for a volunteer from the audience. Have the person don a fire department mask (no bottle) with a black cover on it. Do this in the classroom or the auditorium, in familiar surroundings, to drive home the point that once it’s black in the room, all bets are off, even in the most familiar spaces. Spin the student (for disorientation purposes). Have him/her get down on all fours and attempt to find the way out within two minutes. (Limit the demonstration to two minutes.)

While the student is crawling, play over the built-in sound system (if there is one) a cassette of the sounds of a crackling fire or noises heard during fire operations (hoses, steam, firefighters yelling, and so on). If there is no sound system, hold a portable cassette player next to the student’s ear as he/she crawls around.

Have the student describe what it was like. Take questions from the audience.

What If School Housing Lacks Protection?

If there is no engineered protection, the students may have to provide their own. This is a list of recommended items a student should take to school. Prepare a handout of this list on your department’s letterhead.

• Smoke detectors and extra batteries.
• Drop ladder if you live two or three stories up.
• First-aid kit.
• Portable fire extinguisher-sealed, charged, tagged.
• Carbon monoxide detector.
• An escape plan; routes of escape, gathering/rally point.
• Roll of duct tape to tape off doors and seams for smoke control.

FAITH-FIRE AND INJURY PREVENTION IN THE HOME

The FAITH program was designed to provide our fire department and other government personnel with guidelines for assessing home safety in our jurisdiction. Assessments would include but not be limited to fire prevention inspections; smoke detectors; home escape plans-E.D.I.T.H.; fall injury protection (working on ladders and roofs); handling hazardous materials (propane for the barbecue, paint thinners, gasoline for the mower); cooking safety; smoking safety; and poisons and protection of the medicine chest (add other topics relevant to your department). Through the “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery” campaign (International Association of Fire Chiefs-Eveready), we have been able to enter private homes in town that we normally would not have had an opportunity to visit.

The FAITH program has started to take off after an aggressive public education campaign. (Note: Stress in all of your marketing that this is a free service and that there will be no legal ramification. The objective is to get the residents to believe that this service could save their lives and protect their homes.)

Some suggestions for marketing the program follow.

• Use the local press. The local newspaper usually will give you free ad space.
• Have a table with sign-up sheets at public events, at the local mall, and at other appropriate locations.
• Place a banner across Main Street that says in effect: “The USA Fire Department wants you to have FAITH. Call 555-1234, or stop in the fire station at any time for more information.”
• Ensure that all members are fully versed in the program. (A negative impact would be created if the citizen were told to come back to the station to speak to the fire prevention officer. Once the citizen leaves, you’ve probably lost him forever.)
• Have a one-sheet brochure handout explaining the program available at the station as well as a sign-up sheet.
• Have a ceremony at city/town/borough hall to kick off the campaign. Have the council pass a resolution. Get press coverage.
• Use the PINACLE system (see below) to get the word out.

The Pinacle System (Post Incident Neighborhood Awareness Canvassing Letter)

This system is used primarily after a fire to inform the neighbors within a block or two of the incident about what happened and also to give the pertinent prevention message. Be careful, however, in cases of juvenile firesetters or arson. For accidental fires or other incidents, such as water-ice rescues and automobile accidents, this is a great prevention tool.

The investigation of a recent fatal fire in our jurisdiction disclosed that the occupants had stored combustibles too close to the fireplace. This is good information to share with neighbors strictly “in the interest of prevention.” Just be careful not to compromise the family or an ongoing investigation. It may be a good idea to ask the survivors if you could use the information to educate the community. You’ll be surprised at how many want to turn a tragedy into something positive.

You can initiate the FAITH program by generating a home fire safety inspection checklist and later expand the program into other areas. A sample checklist/inspection form is shown at left.

FUNDING

Many programs require funding and resources unavailable from your municipality. The following is a list of possible resources for your programs:

General Partners

• Local industry
• Chamber of Commerce
• Kiwanis clubs
• Grants from private foundations
• Insurance industry
• Utility companies-electric/water/gas

Specific Partners

• Local print shop
• Local photo developing and camera shop
• Local lumber yard/hardware store/ home improvement store
• Local contractors-electrical, carpenters, welders, body shop

Let’s make fire prevention the primary mission of our country’s fire and emergency services once again. We’ll save more lives, more property, and more firefighters.

Endnote

1. “Open Letter to American Colleges and Universities: Promoting Fire Safety on Campuses,” Jack J. Murphy, Fire Engineering, Jan. 2001.

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RONALD E. KANTERMAN is chief of emergency services for Merck & Co. in Rahway, New Jersey, and a volunteer on call member of the Borough of North Plainfield (NJ) Fire Rescue Department. He has a bachelors degree in fire science administration and masters degrees in fire protection management and environmental science and is an adjunct professor of fire science at Middlesex County College. He is a member of the FDIC staff and advisory board and of the Fire Engineering editorial advisory board.

FRANK D’AMORE JR. is a career lieutenant with the Borough of North Plainfield (NJ) Fire Rescue Department, where he serves as fire prevention officer, EMS coordinator, and training officer. He is a state certified fire inspector, fire instructor, and EMT-D.

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Handout for College and Dormitory Fire Safety Lecture

“It can happen to you!”

When a fire alarm sounds

• Don’t hesitate or grab personal belongings.
• Feel the door and knob for heat. If they’re hot, don’t open the door.
• Stay in your room. Go to the window and draw attention.
• If the door is cool, open it a crack and peek out to look for smoke. If the smoke is heavy, stay in your room and summon help.
• If you encounter smoke or heat, stay low and head for the exit, yelling, “Fire!” Knock on doors as you walk.
• If you discovered the fire, pull the alarm on the way out.
• Never go back into a building that’s on fire.

Preplanning Your Escape

• Know at least two ways out of everywhere you go.
• Never use elevators during a building emergency.
• Practice your plan.

Maintain a Safe Building

• Do not tamper with smoke detectors, fire hoses, alarms, or other fire and life safety equipment.
• Don’t overload electrical outlets or run extension cords.
• Never leave any heat-producing device on and alone-candles, heaters, irons, hot plates, toasters, for example.
• Assign a sober “party watch” for everyone’s sake.
• Take care when cooking, smoking, or doing other activities that can affect safety.

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FAITH: Fire and Injury Prevention in the Home
Sample Checklist/Inspection Form

DATE _____________________
ADDRESS __________________ FAMILY ________________
INSPECTOR ________________ PHONE _________________

FIRE PREVENTION

• Are smoke detectors installed and working with fresh batteries?
• Is rubbish kept to a minimum in the basement, attic, and garage?
• Are flammable liquids stored outside living quarters and kept in a storage shed, other outbuilding, or outside altogether?
• Are electrical panels in good order?
• Is there an excess of extension cords? Are they under carpets?
• Do the stove and oven appear to be in good repair?
• Are the gas lines intact and in good order?
• Is portable heating equipment in good repair and kept at the proper distances from combustible material?
• Has the fireplace and chimney flue been cleaned at regular intervals?
• Are alternate heating systems (kerosene heaters, wood burning stoves, etc.) being used properly?
• Are carbon monoxide detectors installed and working with fresh batteries?
• Is the propane for the barbecue outside living quarters?
• Is there an escape plan, and does the family practice it?

OTHER HOME SAFETY

• Are ladders in good repair? Are all rungs present? (Point out to the homeowner overhead high-voltage wires around the house.)
• Can they tie off to the chimney or vent pipe on slanted roofs?
• Is the barbecue, regardless of fuel, at least 15 feet from the house?
• Are dangerous chemicals kept out of reach from small children?
• Are prescription and over-the-counter medications kept out of the reach of small children?
• Are steps and stairs in good repair?
• Do outdoor outlets and electrical receptacles have ground fault interrupters (GFI)?

Note: Add other items to these lists. It’s suggested that you make no carbon copy of this form. You don’t need to file it. The homeowner takes comfort in knowing there’s no other record of the visit except the form in his hands.