National Institute of Mental Health funds three grants
The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and its partners, including the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), has adopted “Zero Suicide” as its commitment and goal. To this end, NIMH recently funded three new grants for programs that support the Zero Suicide commitment, specifically improving health care systems’ ability to identify who is at risk, implementing effective treatments for at-risk individuals, and identifying ways to improve health care systems through provider training and systemic changes.
Improving Behavioral Health Care is the largest program the NIMH has supported in the area of improving the quality of behavioral health care with the goal of reducing the risk of suicide. Dr. Barbara Stanley of Columbia University and her colleagues, in partnership with the New York State Office of Mental Health, will compare quality improvements in suicide prevention practice across 145 outpatient state-licensed clinics. These clinics represent 85 New York state agencies and include 1,490 clinical providers who reach more than 80,000 adult clients.
The System of Safety (SOS) in Multiple Types of Care Settings builds on the information gained from the recently completed NIMH ED-SAFE study, which focused on adults who were at risk for suicide and went to an emergency department for care. It is estimated that Drs. Edwin Boudreaux and Catarina Kiefe of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and their multidisciplinary team will reach 310,000 patients ages 12 and older in the Massachusetts health care system.
The program will examine standard treatment in these settings and test the effectiveness of its suicide prevention approach while it is implemented through the system. Effectiveness criteria will include suicide-risk detection, safety planning, follow-up care, and patient outcomes such as suicide-related events. The cost of the plan’s effectiveness will also be assessed.
“Stepped” Care for Youth Suicide Prevention will focus on youth at risk for suicidal behavior within the Kaiser Permanente Northwest health system. The objective is to increase the number of effective suicide prevention interventions for at-risk youth. Although fewer youth than adults die by suicide, suicidal thoughts and behaviors often begin in early adolescence, when effective intervention could reduce suicide deaths, says the NIMH. Dr. Joan Asarnow of the University of California at Los Angeles and Dr. Greg Clarke of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research will examine outcomes for approximately 300 at-risk youth, ages 12 to 24.
At press time, the next round of requests for applications for Zero Suicide research was scheduled for November 2016.
Defibrillators not always available when needed
A University of Toronto study has found that where potentially life-saving automated external defibrillators (AED) are housed can create a “coverage loss” in patients who suffer life-threatening trauma and cardiac emergencies in the out-of-hospital setting. The research, conducted jointly by Professor Timothy Chan of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto and Dr. Laurie Morrison at Li Ka Shing Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, found that when a person suffers cardiac arrest, there is a one in five chance that an AED is nearby, but it is locked inside a closed building up to 30 percent of the time. The study was published August 15 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
AED locations in Canada, the study explained, are within office buildings, schools, and recreation facilities—sites that generally are open for a limited number of hours during the daytime. During the study period, which ended in 2014, Toronto had 2,440 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in a public place and 767 AED locations. Of these AED locations, 73.5 percent were not open 24 hours a day and 28.6 percent were closed on weekends. Of the total number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, 451 were near an AED, but only 354 were near an AED when it was accessible, resulting in a coverage loss of 21.5 percent. Coverage loss increased to 31.6 percent during evenings, nights, and weekends, the times when the majority of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur and the AED locations are usually closed. The researchers recommend that AED placement locations be predicated on both location and availability. A model constructed by the researchers considers time of day, building access, and location information to optimize AED availability, according to Chan. Additional information is at http://bit.ly/2dcUUeo.
ISFSI launches new certification program at Fall Instructor Development Conference
The International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI), known collectively as the Society, introduced its Fire Training Certification Program (Fire TCP) at the Society’s Fall Instructor Development Conference 2016 in Cincinnati at the end of September. Envisage Technologies provided support and technical expertise for the program.
Fire TCP was developed to enhance standardization and quality within fire training, according to the ISFSI, and will set minimum standards for training courses. Fire TCP standards will meet or exceed individual state certification requirements. To earn the fire TCP seal, courses must meet a set of predetermined certification criteria. Courses certified through Fire TCP will be available through an international catalog hosted on Envisage Technologies’ FirstForward® training network.
“I believe that Fire TCP is a catalyst that will lead to significant improvement in the quality of training provided to the fire service,” says Steve Pegram, ISFSI president. Fire TCP is accepting applications from vendors interested in having their courses certified through the program. Additional information is at www.firetcp.org.
National Fire Protection Association Urban Forum adopts position papers
Attendees at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Urban Fire Forum (UFF) held at NFPA headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts, in September, endorsed the following documents as official UFF-Metro Chiefs position papers: “Civil Unrest White Paper” and “Standard Operation Procedure”; “Behavioral Health Programs and Policies”; and Fire Service Application for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).” Chiefs from the United States and abroad attended the event, which was coordinated by Metro Chiefs Executive Secretary Russ Sanders.
“The position papers endorsed by the Forum provide the information and resources needed to effectively address the challenges facing today’s fire service,” Sanders noted. The papers are available at http://bit.ly/2egwkPD.
LINE-OF-DUTY DEATHS
SEPTEMBER 21. Safety Officer Charles E. Horan, 61, North Belle Vernon (PA) Volunteer Fire Department: injuries sustained in a fall on September 19.
SEPTEMBER 21. Fire Engineer Ryan Osler, 38, Ventura County Fire Department, Camarillo, CA: injuries sustained in a fire apparatus crash.
SEPTEMBER 24. Senior Firefighter Jerry W. Fickes, 51, Wilmington (DE) Fire Department: injuries sustained from falling through a floor while
searching during a residential fire.
SEPTEMBER 24. Lieutenant Christopher M. Leach, 41, Wilmington (DE) Fire Department: injuries sustained from falling through a floor while searching during a residential fire.
SEPTEMBER 24. Firefighter/Paramedic Sean McMullin, 46, West County EMS & Fire Protection District, Manchester, MO: cause of death not reported.
SEPTEMBER 27. Battalion Chief Michael J. Fahy, 44, Fire Department of New York: house explosion during call for gas leak at residential structure; incident is under investigation.
OCTOBER 5. Captain Yaphet Miller, 43, North Las Vegas (NV) Fire Department: medical injury; cause still to be reported.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
Fire Engineering Archives
