19 Nationwide Assessment of Fire and Burn Safety Education Programs and Evaluation Procedures

Abstract

Many fire departments, burn foundations, and burn centers claim that they provide fire and burn prevention education in their communities, but how do these institutions measure the effectiveness of their programs? Through a collaborative project between a statewide nonprofit burn foundation and a state university, a 37-question national survey was developed and distributed to evaluate fire and burn safety education programs and assessment procedures. Eligible participants in this study were at least 18 years of age and were referred by the nonprofit burn foundation as subject matter experts in fire and burn safety. The survey was administered online and distributed via email directly to identified subject matter experts or through mailing lists from national fire and burn prevention organizations. Questions included 1 consent question, 11 demographic questions, 3 institutional questions, 20 programmatic questions and 2 wrap-up questions. A total of 211 surveys were started and 135 surveys were completed in its entirety, representing 37 states throughout the US. There were 163 unique respondents; 2 respondents did not consent to participate in the study and 1 respondent was a repeat respondent. There were 28 respondents that did not complete all sections of the survey but were included for sections completed. The majority of the respondents were fire departments (n=124; 76.5%) that represented local municipalities (n=91; 56.2%) and provided fire prevention and life safety programs (n=156; 95.1%). The top 3 fire prevention programs offered included Smoke Alarm Education (n=137; 90.7%); Fire Escape Planning (n=131; 86.8%); and Fire Extinguishers (n=113; 74.8%). The majority of respondents stated that they evaluate the effectiveness of their programs (49.1%-52.8%). Number served (89.5%-91.5%) and injury-loss statistics (47.4%-63.8%) were the 2 most common methods of program effectiveness evaluation. Although the majority of the respondents of the survey stated that they evaluate the effective of their programs, the measurement tool most widely utilized is the number of people served. Simply counting the number of people served does not prove effectiveness of a program. More research needs to be done on how to effectively and accurately measure the effectiveness of fire and burn prevention programs. With limited time and resources, fire and burn prevention educators need the right tools and messages to efficiently and effectively educate the public. Through this study, the statewide nonprofit burn foundation and the state university hopes to develop a measurement tool to help detect what actual behavior change occurs as a result of the fire and burn prevention education and training efforts.