Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: FF Nation Smoke Alarm Summit

2015 National Smoke Alarm Summit Report

Vision 20/20, Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy on how to better protect American homes

Vision 20/20Published Thursday, October 8, 2015

Warrenton, VA (October 7, 2015) - Vision 20/20 and the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy have released a report (available at www.strategicfire.org) from a national smoke alarm summit that brought together experts working to find solutions to the problem of residential fire deaths. More than 3,000 people were killed in fires in the United States last year, or one every 2 hours and 41 minutes. Almost 16,000 were injured in these fires that caused $9.8 billion in damage, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Although smoke alarms can cut the risk of death in half, based on its experience in home safety visits done across the country, Vision 20/20 estimates a need for more than 100 million smoke alarms in homes today.

Read the Report

Fifty-nine representatives from the fire service, academia, government, non-profit and private sector convened for the one-day summit. The goal was to develop consensus recommendations to help guide future actions focusing on evidence-based policy and practices, priority research gaps to be addressed and steps needed to encourage wider installation of smoke alarms.

The top four action items identified by the participants, in order of priority, are:
•   Conduct a national census (or representative in-home survey sample) on the prevalence and characteristics of smoke alarms.
•   Promote fire department home safety visits that use best practices in installation and education.
•   Establish a task force (that includes fire service members and data users) to make recommendations on enhancing the utility of the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).
•   Encourage technology developments that would improve the utility and consumer friendliness of smoke alarms.

A task force, with expertise across the technological, data collection, human behavioral and educational messaging spectrum, has been formed to follow-up on the issues presented in the report. The task force will present its findings to Vision 20/20, which will then be shared with the public.

A copy of the report, Evidence Informing Action: Consensus Priorities to Increase the Use of Smoke Alarms in U.S. Homes is available from Vision 20/20 at www.strategicfire.org.

Follow the conversation on Twitter with @StrategicFire and @JohnsHpkinsCIRP, and with #SmokeAlarmSummit.

This summit and report was funded through a grant from the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to Vision 20/20, a project of Institution of Fire Engineers-USA Branch in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy.

Vision 20/20 is a project of the Institution of Fire Engineers-USA Branch, focusing on addressing the gaps in fire prevention, developing tools and resources, and fostering an exchange of ideas. More information can be found at www.strategicfire.org.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy is dedicated to closing the gap between injury research and practice to prevent the fires, burns, and other causes of injury that kill, disable, and inflict pain in alarming numbers. More information can be found at www.jhsph.edu/injurycenter.

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