NFPA risk-reduction pilot program
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is offering 50 fire departments the opportunity to participate in its pilot program on community risk reduction (CRR). Study participants will use free of charge for one year and evaluate a digital tool for conducting a community risk assessment (CRA) developed by the NFPA. The departments will provide frequent feedback to the NFPA. Additional information and application forms are at www.nfpa.org/crr.
The NFPA recently released NFPA 1300, Standard on Community Risk Assessment and Community Risk Reduction Plan Development, as a guide for conducting CRA, creating and implementing a CRR plan, and establishing ongoing evaluation of that plan.
Naloxone access decreases opioid deaths: NIH
In a blog posted on May 14, 2019, Dr. Francis Collins, National Institutes of Health (NIH) director, discussed the agency’s HEALing Communities Study conducted in four states that have been hit hard by the opioid epidemic. The study involves the wide distribution of naloxone to reverse overdoses; the objective is to reduce opioid-related deaths in these communities by 40 percent over three years, a goal Collins says could be possible if society implemented some major changes.
The success of the project hinges on making naloxone available to individuals who will be able to assist patients suffering from an opioid overdose. Collins noted that an analysis funded by the NIH covering the years 2013 and 2016 showed that in nine states where laws authorized pharmacists to dispense naloxone to anyone without a prescription (friends, family members, and others), the number of fatal opioid overdoses fell significantly.
Naloxone access laws (NALs), Collins explained, vary according to states. In some states, a physician still must prescribe naloxone; in others, pharmacists are given the direct authority to supply naloxone without a doctor’s orders to anyone who requests it; and in still others, pharmacists are given indirect authority to dispense naloxone only to people enrolled in certain treatment programs or who meet other specific criteria.
The research team for the NIH HEALing Communities Study found that in states where pharmacists have direct authority to dispense naloxone, “fatal opioid overdoses in the following year fell an average of 27 percent, with even steeper declines in ensuing years.”
Although Collins cites the need for longer-term data and for caution not to equate correlation with causation, he says these findings are encouraging. The HEALing Communities Study has also shown that in those states that allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription, there was an increase in the number of patients treated at emergency departments for nonfatal overdoses. This finding, Collins says, highlights the importance of combining strategies to improve naloxone access with other proven interventions and access to medications that treat opioid addiction.
The HEALing Communities Study is led by researchers at the NIH in conjunction with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It is designed to test the impact of an integrated set of evidence-based interventions across health care, behavioral health, justice, and other community-based settings. Each site is partnering with at least 15 communities to measure the impact of these efforts. The Study awarded grants to the following academic institutions, in partnership with local community-based organizations: University of Kentucky, Lexington; Boston Medical Center, Boston; Columbia University, New York City; and The Ohio State University, Columbus. RTI International, based in North Carolina, the study’s coordinating center, will be responsible for data analysis, health economics research, and widespread dissemination of the research findings over the course of the study.
NFPA cites 13 promoters of fire and life safety
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) honored the following individuals for their time and efforts in promoting fire and life safety throughout the world. The presentations were made at the NFPA Conference & Expo held in San Antonio, Texas, in June.
Robbie Stone, emergency management director and chief of the Atkinson County (GA) Fire Department. The 2018 Industrial Fire Protection Section Fire Prevention Week Award. When two towns consolidated their fire services, Stone was instrumental in creating a new fire safety program that resulted in a 30-percent drop in fire calls.
Barry J. Brickey, Kingsport, Tennessee. Fire and Life Safety Educator of the Year Award. Brickey has been teaching NFPA’s Learn Not to Burn® program to elementary school children for more than a decade, educating elderly residents and community organizers about fire- and fall-prevention strategies using NFPA’s Remembering When™ program materials, and has been the voice of Sparky the Fire Dog® during national campaigns and media tours.
Daniel Brandon, Matthew Hoehler, Brigit A.-L. Östman, and Joseph Su. 2019 Fire Protection Research Foundation Medal. They were recognized for The Fire Safety Challenges of Tall Wood Buildings (Phase 2) project (https://bit.ly/2Y1TA5H) guided by the project technical panel of National Research Council Canada and Research Institute of Sweden, which were contracted for technical services, and the National Fire Research Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which conducted full-scale testing.
Wojciech Węgrzyński, assistant professor and deputy head of the Fire Research Department, and Tomasz Lipecki, head of Smoke Control, Detection and Fire Automation, Fire Research Department, Polish Building Research Institute in Warsaw. Harry C. Bigglestone Award. Winning paper: Wind and Fire Coupled Modelling.
Stephen J. King III, battalion chief (ret.), Fire Department of New York. The Standards Medal. King has served as the chairman of the NFPA Technical Committee on Structural and Proximity Fire Fighting Protective Clothing and Equipment and a member of the Correlating Committee on Fire and Emergency Services Protective Clothing and Equipment.
Jon Nisja, fire safety supervisor with the Minnesota State Fire Marshal Division. James M. Shannon Advocacy Medal. Nisja has authored chapters in five books and is widely known for his knowledge of fire protection interests, including fire safety history, means of egress, fire protection systems, building construction, and using performance measures to show effectiveness.
Roger Allard, Robert G. Bill, Gunnar Heskestad, and Hsiang-Cheng Kun. Philip J. DiNenno Prize. They were recognized for “their significant and substantive role in the successful promulgation of truly effective, occupancy-specific, fast-response sprinklers, which involve three independent technologies related to sprinkler response.” The NFPA notes that their hard work and perseverance have been instrumental in the following: the overwhelming acceptance of Response Time technology worldwide for the characterization of fast response links; the wide acceptance of Quick Response residential fire sprinklers used in residential settings worldwide, and the broad use of Early Suppression Fast Response fire sprinklers in commercial and industrial settings worldwide. Additional information on the honorees is at https://bit.ly/2YYzsmf/.
