Fire Safety: People with Disabilities

[mark handler]

Fire Safety from the U.S. Fire Administration.

Focus on Fire Safety: People with Disabilities

Each year an estimated 2,655 deaths and 13,025 injuries occur as the result of residential building fires. The risk of death or injury from fire is even greater for people with physical, mental, or sensory disabilities. Declining mobility, health, sight, and hearing may limit a person’s ability to take the quick action necessary to escape during a fire emergency.

If you have a disability, you can increase your chances of surviving a fire by taking safety precautions such as making and practicing a home fire escape plan relevant to your needs and ensuring that working smoke alarms are installed on every level of the home.

Causes and Circumstances of Home Fire Deaths with Physical Disability (2003-2006)

Physical disability was a contributing factor in an estimated average of 360 (13%) home fire deaths per year.

54% of the victims died as a result of home fires with working smoke alarms compared to only 37% of home fire victims overall.

One-quarter of victims with physical disabilities were unable to act to save themselves.

53% of the victims were involved in ignition and in the area of origin when the incident began.

Victims were more likely to die from a fire that began with either mattresses or bedding (20% versus 13% of all home fire victims), or clothing (12% versus 5% of all home victims).

http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/focus/disability.shtm

 

[FyrBldgGuy]

Nine Percent of the population is hearing impaired/deaf! 9 PERCENT. You can't see them, they have no canes, wheel chairs, seeing eye dogs, etc. Most of the time they do not let you know they are hearing impaired.

Thats why I care about visual devices on fire alarm systems. The Fire Code should state that visual devices are required everywhere. The audible sound levels are designed for an healthy 25 year old male. If we subtract the total number of people over the age of 25 from this board, how many people would be left? Maybe thats why ICC only wants to hear from younger code officials... because the rest of us can't hear their garbage.

 

[pwood]

fyr,

i have tinnitus and am hearing impaired and am one of the 9 percent you speak of. i was doing a final on an s.f.d. the other day and checking the smoke detectors with the contractor.

the sound really hurts my ears but the contractor thought they were not functioning. he could not hear them, yet he can carry on a conversation with ease. a good case for visual alarms. good idea!

 

[Frank]

Factors inhibiting escape are present in a large number of residential fire fatalities.

This includes disability, under 7 years old, or over 64 years old. The young and the senior citizens have reduced ability to self evacuate even if not formally considered to be disabled.

Temporary imparement is also implicated in many fire fatalities, in MD and NM autopsy studies of the fire fatalities they found that for those over 20 years old, where samples were able to be obtained, 51% had a BAC of 0.10 % or higher. Note that NFIRS only reports around a 15% intoxicated rate--likely underreported as firefighters don't like to talk bad about the dead and generally don't know for sure, even if the deceased was a known heavy drinker. I cannot remember any that we have checked that box on, even when they were a known drunk or had come home from party night before because we don't know for sure.

For those who are unable to readily evacuate sprinklers are the best solution.

 

[peach]

My son is hearing impaired.. in MY house, we made sure he could hear the fire alarm without his hearing aids.. and we added a strobe in his bedroom.

Of course, he sleeps like the dead, so there was always a chance neither would awaken him.

Can't save everyone.. but we did have an evacuation plan.