The potential benefit of a home fire safety intervention during emergency medical services calls. Acad Emerg Med 1998 Mar;5(3):220-4
Date
04/02/1998Pubmed ID
9523929DOI
10.1111/j.1553-2712.1998.tb02616.xScopus ID
2-s2.0-0031906917 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 7 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine how often house fires occur at 1- and 2-family dwellings visited previously by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and whether these visits were missed opportunities for a point-of-contact home fire safety intervention.
METHODS: A retrospective, consecutive, case series analysis of all Milwaukee Fire Department alarm responses during 1994 was performed. Measurements included date of service, type of response, property type, dollar loss estimate, number of injuries and fatalities, cause of alarm, and presence of an operational smoke detector. Descriptive, chi2, and relative risk statistics were used to describe the relationship between EMS responses and fire responses at 1- and 2-family dwellings.
RESULTS: The Milwaukee Fire Department dispatched 94,378 requests for service to 43,556 addresses. 16,150 addresses generated multiple requests; 7.2% (1,162/16,150) were for an "alarm of fire" response [relative risk 1.83 (95% CI: 1.69-1.99) for addresses with multiple requests vs those with a single request for service]. Most [62% (721/1,162)] of the addresses were visited by EMS personnel prior to the alarm; 28% (205/721) were 1- and 2-family dwellings. A mean of 1.8 (376/205) EMS responses occurred prior to the "alarm of fire" response; 121 addresses received 1 response, 46 received 2, 18 received 3, and 20 received > or = 4 responses. Of 169 addresses with complete data, there was a total fire dollar loss of $1,963,020 (1994) along with 32 injuries and 0 fatalities. While 47% (80/169) of the 1- and 2-family dwellings had a smoke detector present, only 17% (29/169) of the dwellings had an operational smoke detector.
CONCLUSIONS: A point-of-contact home fire safety intervention appears of potential benefit for frequent users of EMS care. Determination of the presence of an operational smoke detector in 1- and 2-family dwellings may be a useful injury prevention act during such EMS calls.
Author List
Pirrallo RG, Rubin JM, Murawsky GAAuthor
Jonathan M. Rubin MD Professor in the Emergency Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Accident PreventionEmergency Medical Services
Fires
Housing
Retrospective Studies
Risk
Safety Management
