Improving the fire safety of elderly people and reducing fire deaths

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1 Improving the fire safety of elderly people and reducing fire deaths Olli-Pekka Ojanen Chief Executive Officer Tampere Regional Rescue Department Working group: Seppo Männikkö, Jouni Honkanen, Markku Suominen, and Tytti Oksanen

2 Organisation for the rescue services The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for internal security. The Ministry of the Interior Department for Rescue Services directs and supervises rescue services and maintains an oversight of their coverage and quality, and is in charge of the preparedness and organisation of rescue services at a national level. Regional state administrative agencies oversee rescue services and their coverage and quality within their area of operation. Municipalities are jointly responsible for rescue services in rescue service regions. There are 22 rescue departments in Finland, which carry out rescue service duties in their regions.

3 Rescue services in figures Rescue service organisation 22 rescue service regions 570 volunteer fire brigades 105 institutional and industrial fire brigades Personnel 4,800 full-time employees 14,600 part-time and voluntary fire brigade members Total annual costs EUR 340 million / all regions Emergency missions per year The total number of call-outs for rescue departments is about 110,000 a year

4 Background An ageing population Policies set by society Fire deaths

5 Demographic projec9on by age groups % Year

6 Policies set by society Reduction of institutional care places Supporting the independent living of elderly people at their homes The development of in-home services and safety devices

7 Fire deaths in Finland An average of 73 fatal building fires each year The share of elderly people (over 65 years) out of the fire deaths is about one third Main reasons for the fire deaths Reduced functional ability The fire was not detected in time

8 Summary The number of people with a limited functional ability living independently at home will significantly increase over the years to come The fire safety of the elderly living at home is a challenge There are special fire safety requirements for nursing homes, and in accordance with these requirements, more than 70% of all nursing homes have sprinkler systems There are no criteria / minimum requirements for the fire safety as regards the elderly living at home

9 Training Improving the fire safety of the elderly living at home For the authorities (incl. home care personnel) For pension organisations and groups For family caregivers For residents of senior citizens buildings The visits of a fire inspector to the homes of elderly people, together with home care personnel Prevention / removal of safety risks Learning at work by home care personnel The drawing up of the fire safety criteria (the Resident Assessment Instrument, RAI) Fire safety equipment (smoke detectors, stove safety devices, sprinkling) and their development

10 Home visits Home visits began in autumn 2013 So far, 450 visits implemented Detected safety risks Almost 50% have some kind of memory disturbance 69% have a reduced ability to move (moving is impossible or too slow in case of a fire) In 30% of the dwellings, there have been problems regarding the smoke detector: (no smoke detector / it has been installed wrong / the number of smoke detectors is too low, the battery is dead, or there is no battery) 16% of the target people have been smokers Too much goods in 15% of the dwellings, a high fire load 10% use intoxicants excessively

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12 Drawing up of the fire safety criteria Together with home care services, a procedure based on the current assessment criteria (RAI) will be developed to be used in the assessment of those sub-areas of the resident s functional ability that are significant in terms of fire safety Matters to be taken into account in these criteria are Perception (hearing and sight) Understanding (memory and cognitive skills) Ability to move Medication that restricts functional ability Progressive memory disturbance

13 Classification conforming to the criteria I. The resident s functional ability is almost normal II. Taking care of basic fire safety Training and guidance for actors in the detection of risks Home visits by the rescue department The resident s functional ability is somewhat reduced or limited Safety services provided by home care personnel (for example, a special smoke detector, a stove guard, a special safety structure) The resident needs expert help provided by the rescue department III. The resident is totally dependent on help from others Automatic fire extinguishing system for each dwelling

14 Dwelling-specific fire extinguishing system Together with a private company, the Tampere Regional Rescue Department has developed an automatic, portable fire extinguishing system for private homes. The fire extinguishing system is used to prevent a fire from becoming dangerous. This will minimise personal injuries and material damage. The fire extinguishing system costs about 6,000.

15 Features of the fire extinguishing system Safety Improves the resident s safety, particularly when the functional ability has reduced or become limited Meets the requirements set by category 2 in the residential sprinkler systems standard SFS 5980 (INSTA Residential sprinkler systems, Design, installation and maintenance) and has been approved by the authorities Portability Can be moved from one dwelling to another and installed in another dwelling without a building permit Flexibility The system is able to protect individual dwellings

16 Ability to react Features of the fire extinguishing system The sprinkler nozzle is triggered when the temperature in the dwelling reaches the temperature in which the nozzle has been calibrated to trigger (68 degrees Celsius) The system operates for at least 30 minutes Automatic functions The tank is automatically filled when the water level in the tank starts to sink The pressure booster pump of the system is connected to the electricity network of a dwelling, before the line fuse of the dwelling Alarm The alarm is automatically connected either to the on-call duty service (taking place around the clock) or to the rescue department The alarm takes place by means of a flow switch when the water is running in the pipes

17 Conclusion Improving the fire safety of the elderly and the reduction of fire deaths require good cooperation between the different actors and the continuous evaluation and development of functions/techniques.