FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2007
For More Information, Contact:
System Planning Corporation
James M. Kudla
703/351-8238
Cell: 571-217-3633
jkudla@sysplan.com
New SPC/TriData Study Looks at European Residential Fire Prevention 'Best Practices' in Effort to Reduce Fire Injuries in the U.S.
A just-completed study for the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes a number of ‘best practices' in European residential fire prevention that could save lives and reduce fire injuries in the United States.
System Planning Corporation's TriData division conducted the review under contract to CDC's Atlanta-based National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
Of all the best practices identified in the study, one in particular stands out in helping reduce fire casualties: British Fire Service fire safety inspection visits to large numbers of high-risk households to address deficiencies and ensure the homes each have a working smoke detector.
The British believe this innovative effort is a major factor in the 40 percent drop in fire deaths in the United Kingdom over the last 15 years, and it probably could have a similarly large impact in the United States and other nations as well, according to the study's co-author, TriData president Philip S. Schaenman.
In the United States and in most western industrial nations, the majority of civilian fire deaths and fire injuries occur in the home. As part of its mission to reduce residential injuries, CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control attempts to identify effective global community fire safety programs—best practices—that could be used in the United States.
TriData has undertaken research on global concepts in fire protection for over 20 years.
In 1982–1993 TriData produced a series of reports entitled International Concepts in Fire
Protection. The reports were widely disseminated and led to many articles in fire journals and presentations at fire conferences in the United States and internationally.
The European report is the first of a totally new series of three reports to identify best practices in residential fire prevention. The second study is underway and will focus on the Pacific Rim nations of Japan, Australia and New Zealand. A third study in 2008–2009 will focus on Mexico and South America.
The "Global Concepts in Residential Fire Safety – Best Practices from England, Scotland, Sweden and Norway" study can be viewed or downloaded at: http://www.sysplan.com/TriData/Publications/International
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