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IAFF Burn Foundation
Awards $150,000 in Research Grants
at 2008 American
Burn Association Meeting
Fire Fighter Burn Foundations
Donate Thousands to Support IAFF Burn Foundation
The IAFF Burn Foundation participated in the 40th Annual American Burn Association meeting in Chicago, Illinois on April 29 - May2, 2008. Fire fighters from IAFF local affiliates throughout North America, along with approximately 1,500 burn care professionals, attended the week-long conference designed to educate burn care nurses, physicians, therapists and fire fighters on advances in burn treatment. The conference also solidifies the integral relationship between the fire service and the medical community.
As the representative for more than 288,000 professional fire fighters and fire fighter burn foundations throughout North America, the IAFF Burn Foundation played a significant role in the conference proceedings.
The IAFF Burn Foundation awarded burn research grants totaling nearly $150,000 during the opening ceremony of the conference. Research targeting burn treatments, burn prevention and quality of life issues through case-study analysis were among those projects that received IAFF grant awards this year.
In a special ceremony, the IAFF Burn Foundation received nearly $74,000 in donations from fire fighter burn foundations, IAFF members and burn care professionals from throughout the U.S. and Canada. We are truly grateful for their dedicated support throughout the years.
2008
IAFF Burn Foundation Research Grant Recipients
IAFF
Partners with the Liberty Mutual Group to Conduct National Fire
Safety Census
In
October 2006, the International Association of Fire Fighters collaborated
with Liberty Mutual Group to conduct a national 2006 Fire Safety
Census, interviewing more than 1,000 adults to assess fire
safety knowledge and behaviors. The survey found that home fires
rank highest on the list of top disaster concerns, yet many Americans
are dangerously negligent when it comes to taking fire precautions
and uninformed about what to do if fire occurs.
Statistics showed that:
- 20%
of Americans do not own a fire extinguisher
- 27%
do not have a fire escape plan, and many engage in risky behaviors
such as leaving burning candles unattended
-
44% wrongly believed that power strips protect against electrical
fire
-
24% consider space heaters to be safe
-
15% mistakenly believe that any type of fire extinguisher can be
used to put out any fire
- 6%
knew that a working smoke detector in homes doubled occupants' chances
of surviving a fire
- 30%
would evacuate their home first before calling the fire department
These
findings reveal significant knowledge gaps and raise concern for
one of the most vulnerable populations to fire - children. According
to the report, 84% of parents do not frequently discuss fire safety
with their children and seven in ten parents reported that their
children are not adequately prepared to escape and survive a fire.
These are troublesome findings since the fire death risk for children
under age five is nearly double the risk of the average population
and children make up 15-20% of fire-related deaths.
Based
on the findings of our national survey, and in response to the clearly
defined need for more fire safety education, the IAFF and IAFF Burn
Foundation continue to strive to raise the awareness of and educate
the community on proper fire and burn prevention as well as fire
safety measures and practices. We do this through public service
announcements, fire safety week campaigns, school outreach programs
and other multi-media materials and programs.
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