Safety Source

Remembering When featured on radio show for older adults

Senior Moments Radio is a nationally syndicated program about care and services for older adults. Geoff Scott, “The Senior Bodyguard,” and co-host Cheryl Hartman interview guests on a broad range of topics, from how to avoid scams to pet therapy for older adults. I was asked to join in on their discussion the day the topic was fire and fall safety. My interview centered on Remembering When.

The co-hosts had a light-hearted but serious approach, peppering the hour-long show with jokes and self-deprecating banter, but also giving me the opportunity to talk at length about NFPA’s messaging and Remembering When’s eight fire prevention and eight fall prevention behaviors. At the end of the show, Geoff and Cheryl thanked me and said that they had learned a few things they didn’t know about fire and fall safety, too.

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Fall safety and high jinks make the point on TV show

Two of every home fires begin in the kitchen

I just opened one of my “Google Alerts” this morning and it included “Family displaced following Allentown (PA) kitchen fire”, “Kitchen fire in downtown apartment building leads to second alarm (Buffalo, NY)”, "Firefighters respond to kitchen fire at McCarthy Manor Apartments (Syracuse, NY)”, and "Firefighters
deal with kitchen fire in Rough Common (Kent, England).” The common theme is kitchen fires. This intrigued me, so I looked at each article to see what was happening in the kitchen for all these fires to occur. In Allentown, PA the fire was caused by problems with electrical wires, the Buffalo, NY apartment fire is under investigation, the McCarthy Manor apartment fire in Syracuse, NY was caused by unattended cooking, and no cause was attributed to the Kent, England fire.

With four kitchen fires in the news today, our 2013 Fire Prevention Week theme “Prevent Kitchen Fires” is right on target. It’s not too early to start planning for Fire Prevention Week. Some of the things you can start today are planning your calendar of events, selecting the materials you want to support your campaign and promoting your Sparky’s Wish list in your community. While you’re planning your activities to help reduce the number of kitchen fires in your community, don’t forget our community outreach kits. We have one specifically for cooking which provides you with media materials, talking points, PSAs and tip sheets for consumers. Don’t’ forget our safety tips sheets on cooking safety and scald prevention which can be great handouts for residents.

Good luck with your 2013 Fire Prevention Week campaign and be sure to let me know if you need any assistance in making this your best Fire Prevention Week ever.

Fire safety with shapes

We use shapes every day as adults, although we may not realize it. Think about rearranging the furniture, cleaning out the kitchen cupboards or the refrigerator - all done according to the shape of the items in them, and how they will relate to each other. Road signs and markings make extensive use of different shapes, helping us to recognize them before we can actually read them.

Children are expected to know the basic shapes, recognize them and identify how they form part of other items. They may also be expected to be able to draw the shapes - not perfectly, but certainly recognizably. There are many ways to encourage and help your child to learn about shapes.

Because shapes are all around us, it is easy to play 'Find the Shape' at home, in the car, in the store and elsewhere. Select one shape at a time to concentrate on, rather than trying to find all the different shapes.

Make this a fi­re safety lesson. When you child identifies a smoke alarm as a CIRCLE shape, this provides a great opportunity to test the alarm to be sure it is working and make sure your child recognizes the sound of the alarm and knows what to do. Leave the home and go to your outside meeting place.
The RECTANGLE shape can become a ­re safety lesson, too. When your child
identifi­es a door or window as a rectangle shape, use this to review escape planning and the importance of knowing two ways out of every room.

For more ideas and activities visit sparky.org and sparky.org/parents.

Fire safety initiative for high-risk audiences gets underway

Maly Son, director of Springfield Vietnamese-American Civic Association, Thu Pham, program coordinator for the Vietnamese Health Project, Mercy Medical Center, and An Rocco, interpreter and translation services, Baystate Medical Center at the Civic Association health fair.

The Springfield Fire Department, Springfield, Massachusetts, kicked off its “Multi-Language Public Education Fire Safety Initiative” with its participation recently in the Springfield Vietnamese American Civic Association Health Fair. The department created informational poster boards in Vietnamese and distributed handouts of NFPA’s easy-to-read fire safety materials. Certified interpreters conversed with the public about fire safety in Vietnamese.

The fire department, recipient of this year’s NFPA Public Education Division Rolf H. Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant, hopes to cut down on the large number of fire calls generated by immigrant groups, in many cases because of unsafe cooking practices or unattended cooking. The fire safety initiative will be conducted primarily at cultural and community centers geared toward Somali, Russian, Nepali, Vietnamese, and Latino immigrants. Certified language interpreters are donating their services.

Massachusetts announces statewide video contest winners

Reaching high school teenagers with fire safety information can be a challenge. The Massachusetts Fire Marshal’s Office is up for the challenge as they announce the winners of their 5^th annual YouTube® Burn Awareness Video Contest. The contest is hosted by the state Department of Fire Services, the Massachusetts Association of Safety and Fire Educators (MaSAFE), and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. Using the power of YouTube, students are encouraged to create their own videos. They take on the roles of writers, actors, directors and producers. The project is coordinated through high school media teachers to help them reach their own educational goals while engaging students in a fun activity. Thirty-three teams representing twelve high schools participated in the contest this year. While all the videos were great, first place went to Millis High school for their video The Extinguisher; second place winners were from Norwood High School for Cooking Safety and third place winners were from Sharon High School for Allstate Mayhem Ad Parody.

The contest was open to grade 9-12 students. The project demonstrates how fire safety can be integrated into core standards such as English Language Arts. Congratulations to everyone participating in the contest. If you would like to learn how to implement a video project in your state, contact Jennifer Mieth.

Free printable bookmark for teachers and moms

National Teacher Appreciation Day is Tuesday, May 7. It is time to say "thank you" to all those wonderful teachers out there. Sparky is celebrating teachers all month long. Student’s can let their teachers know just how much they care with our new, printable bookmarks showing “These are a few of my favorite things about you.” Just print and fill in the person’s name, a list of what you like about him or her, and your name. It’s that easy. We've also made one for mom, too!

  

Fall safety and high jinks make the point on TV show

While channel surfing recently, I came across a program called Betty White’s Off Their Rockers. It’s a reality comedy series broadcast on NBC in which older adults play pranks on members of the younger generation. I’ve been a fan of Betty White for many years so I eased up on the remote and thought I’d tune in for at least a few minutes.

The show is hilarious. The younger generation’s reaction to the pranksters’ mischief is a key element to the humor. In the episode I watched, an older gentleman ran up to some young adults at the park, desperate for help because he said the man behind a nearby tree, also an older adult, was stalking him because of a Facebook connection. Pretty soon, the stalker came from behind the tree and chased the man through the park. Later, two women riding a bicycle-built-for-two flirted with two young men passing by and convinced them to hop aboard and steer the bike.

I identified an important thread in each sketch. While Betty White’s crew was making mischief, they were also exercising. In NFPA’s Remembering When: A Fire and Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults, we provide eight fire prevention and eight fall prevention messages including, “Exercise regularly to build strength and improve your balance and coordination.”
While entertaining audiences, the practical jokers were reinforcing an important safety message without even realizing it.

Mother's Day gift...the fire safe way

I was looking for some Mother's Day projects for sparky.org  when I came across this one. Yikes. I found it on Pinterest, so keep in mind that it is out of context. It is just a picture with no explanation. I am hoping that this is geared towards adults giving this to their mothers.  Never the less, putting a lit candle on a rug next to curtains is not a good idea.

 The sentiment is sweet, and the words are a wonderful message to mom, but let's throw some fire safety into it. If you are an adult, and you are giving this gift to your mom, remember candles are open flames and they can easily ignite anything that can burn. Keep candles at least 12 inches away from anything that can burn. When you wrap the candle and matches, include this tip sheet on candle safety for mom.
 
As a child's project, get a flameless candle (don't have children give matches) and include the same great message. I bought some battery-operated flameless candles from Target recently. They are vanilla scented and have a built-in timer so they turn off after four hours.

This is a great alternative to the "real" candle…and much safer. Check back in a few days for some great Mother's Day ideas on Sparky.org.

NFPA Public Education at FDIC 2013

Over 33,000 firefighters gathered at the Fire Department Instructors Conference 2013 (FDIC) that took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the NFPA Public Education division was present. I had the opportunity to staff the exhibit this year with our Central Region Public Education Advisor, Meredith Hawes, and promote all of the wonderful and free materials the NFPA Public Education division develops. It was such a great experience to meet people from all over the country whose passion was to teach and promote fire safety.

Visit NFPA's Safety Information section to take a look at what educational materials and resources NFPA has available.  

Start planning for 2013 FPW with Sparky's wish list

With the 2013 Fire Prevention Week theme announced it’s time to starting planning NFPA has created Sparky’s Wish List to help you fund materials to use in your community. It’s easy as 1,2,3! Create a wish list for your fire department, use the materials we have created to reach out to the media, local businesses and residents, and thank all your contributors. I donated to the Braintree (MA) Fire Department last year. It was nice to see the Fire Prevention Week banners I purchased displayed at each station. There are residents and businesses in your community who want to support you.

What are you waiting for? Go to Sparky’s Wish List and make sure your fire department is listed.