Alarm Installation Research Articles

“Worried About Them When We Left”: A Mixed-Methods Essay

The purpose of this visual inquiry using ethnographic photographic research was to examine fire safety in homes of 42 urban older adults. Photographs were taken to document home fire safety (HFS) practices and grouped according to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Home Safety Checklist categories. Participants had a mean age of 74 years, and were mostly African American (n=21, 57%), and female (n=32, 78%). Major findings from the photographs demonstrated unsafe electrical, cooking, and heating practices. Other HFS hazards related to installation and maintenance of carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke alarms, smoking safety, and identification and practice of home fire escape plans. The findings will provide future direction for community education and fire prevention advocacy for older adults.

Changes in smoke alarm coverage following two fire department home visiting programs: what predicts success?

BackgroundDoor-to-door canvassing and installation of smoke alarms have been found to be effective at increasing the number of homes protected. This analysis reports on how smoke alarm coverage changes six months after a home visiting program in a large urban sample, and how this change varies by characteristics of the residents and characteristics of the services delivered during the home visit.MethodsFire department Standard and Enhanced home visiting programs were compared. During the home visit, fire fighters installed lithium battery smoke alarms. Residents in the Enhanced program received tailored education about fire safety. Six months after the home visit, participating residences were visited to complete a follow-up survey and to have the installed alarms checked.Results81% of the 672 homes that had a working smoke alarm on every level of the home at the end of the home visit remained safe at follow-up, and 87% of the residents found the home visit was very useful, and these rates did not differ between the Enhanced and Standard programs. The degree to which firefighters delivered their services varied, although households in which the resident’s engagement with the fire department team was rated as excellent were 3.96 times as likely to be safe at follow-up compared to those with poor or fair resident engagement (p=0.03).ConclusionsThere is a need to better understand how to maximize the time spent with residents during smoke alarm home visiting programs. This study helps with the development of methods needed for implementing and evaluating such programs in real-world settings.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40621-014-0030-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Fatal unintentional non-fire-related carbon monoxide poisoning: England and Wales, 1979–2012

Context. Unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in England and Wales. Methods. Study design: observational case series. Data on fatal carbon monoxide poisoning in England and Wales from 1979 to 2012 were obtained from coroner reports. Data on unintentional non-fire-related carbon monoxide poisoning were extracted and were analysed by year of registration of death, sex, age group, and whether death occurred at a private house, flat, associated garage, or residential caravan (‘home’), or elsewhere. Results and discussion. There were 28,944 carbon monoxide-related deaths, of which 82% were male. Deaths increased from 965 (1979) to 1700 (1987), and then fell to 182 (2012). Of these 2208 (64% male) were recorded as unintentional non-fire-related deaths. Annual numbers of these latter deaths fell from 166 in 1979 to 25 in 2012 (i.e. from 3.37 to 0.44 per million population). Some 81 and 92% of such deaths in males and in females, respectively, occurred at ‘home’. A clear preponderance of male versus female deaths was seen in the 10–19, 20–39 and 40–64 years age groups, with similar numbers of deaths in males and in females in the younger (< 1 and 1–9 year) and higher (65–79 and 80 + years) age groups. A higher proportion of these excess deaths in males occurred outside the deceased's ‘home’ in those aged 10–19, 20–39 and 40–64 years. Conclusion. Deaths from unintentional non-fire-related carbon monoxide poisoning are now much less common in England and Wales than in earlier years, but remain a cause for concern. Installation and proper maintenance of carbon monoxide alarms in dwellings and outhouses, for example, and education not only of the public, but also of health and other professionals as to the danger posed by carbon monoxide could help prevent such deaths.

PENERAPAN CASE-BASED REASONING UNTUK PENENTUAN LOKASI PEMASANGAN SMART ALARM KEBAKARAN

Abstract— Fire is one of the concerns the citizens of Jakarta. In addition to causing substantial material damage, even hundreds of residents who are victims. One of the efforts made by the Jakarta administration is the installation of fire prevention equipment in fire-prone areas are connected via the telephone in the home residents with firefighters are smart alarm. But these efforts are constrained because there are several factors for the installation of smart alarms that are not met by the residents. This paper discusses the determination of the location of the installation of smart alarms to help firefighters wag to tackle the spread of fire to many houses. Taken from the cases determining the location of the previous installation of smart alarm as the experience for firefighters. Therefore, the implementation of the system of Case-Base Reasoning (CBR) to the Nearest Neighbor algorithm approach is most appropriate, because this system will take the experience from past cases similar to the value of proximity.

Preventing deaths and injuries from house fires: an outcome evaluation of a community-based smoke alarm installation programme

BackgroundFew studies have examined the impact of community-based smoke alarm (SA) distribution programmes on the occurrence of house fire-related deaths and injuries (HF-D/I).ObjectiveTo determine whether the rate of HF-D/I differed...

How long do smoke alarms function? A cross-sectional follow-up survey of a smoke alarm installation programme

ObjectiveTo assess the functionality of lithium-powered smoke alarms that had been installed through a community-based programme called Operation Installation (OI).MethodsA random sample was chosen of homes that had received smoke...

Prevention of Unintentional Injuries: A Global Role for Pediatricians

In spite of many proven ways to prevent childhood injuries, the relative prevalence of unintentional injury continues to plague the health and well-being of children worldwide. No population groups are spared, with children living in all social and economic circumstances at risk. Dr Hollwarth describes the extent of this injury pandemic. He also cites practical approaches for pediatricians to help advocate for evidence-based injury prevention policies and more consistent inclusion of anticipatory guidance in their daily practice. The simple truth is that children are much more susceptible to unintentional injuries than adults and the societal costs are unacceptably high. This column serves as a call to arms for pediatricians everywhere to work on combating this growing public health challenge. —Jay E. Berkelhamer, MD, FAAP Editor, Global Health Monthly Feature Primary care pediatricians serve as physicians for the entire family because they accompany children from infancy through adolescence, and quite often into adulthood. The pediatrician may be primarily consulted in cases of diseases, but his or her advice with regard to vaccination, healthy nutrition, and a safe environment is usually appreciated by families. Thus, pediatricians can play a significant role in injury prevention, too. Why is injury prevention important? Unintentional injuries constitute a global public health problem and are the leading cause of death in children and adolescents between the ages 5 and 18 years. More than 800 000 children younger than 18 die every year as a result of unintentional injuries.1 In the United States, this is the leading cause of death among children aged 18 and younger, claiming more than 12 000 lives annually.2 For each child who dies as a result of injury, another 553 children are treated at emergency departments, a further 11.2 children need to … Address correspondence to Michael E. Hollwarth, Univ. Prof. Dr., Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University, Auenbruggerplatz 34, A-8036 Graz, Austria. E-mail: michael.hoellwarth{at}medunigraz.at

Using GIS to Evaluate a Fire Safety Program in North Carolina

Evaluating program impact is a critical aspect of public health. Utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a novel way to evaluate programs which try to reduce residential fire injuries and deaths. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the application of GIS within the evaluation of a smoke alarm installation program in North Carolina. This approach incorporates national fire incident data which, when linked with program data, provides a clear depiction of the 10years impact of the Get Alarmed, NC! program and estimates the number of potential lives saved. We overlapped Get Alarmed, NC! program installation data with national information on fires using GIS to identify homes that experienced a fire after an alarm was installed and calculated potential lives saved based on program documentation and average housing occupancy. We found that using GIS was an efficient and quick way to match addresses from two distinct sources. From this approach we estimated that between 221 and 384 residents were potentially saved due to alarms installed in their homes by Get Alarmed, NC!. Compared with other program evaluations that require intensive and costly participant telephone surveys and/or in-person interviews, the GIS approach is inexpensive, quick, and can easily analyze large disparate datasets. In addition, it can be used to help target the areas most at risk from the onset. These benefits suggest that by incorporating previously unutilized data, the GIS approach has the potential for broader applications within public health program evaluation.

Storm-Related Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: An Investigation of Target Audience Knowledge and Risk Behaviors.

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisonings in the United States consistently occur when residents improperly use portable gasoline-powered generators and other tools following severe storms and power outages. However, protective behaviors-such as installing CO alarms and placing generators more than 20 feet away from indoor structures-can prevent these poisonings. This study identified knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs that lead consumers to adopt risk and protective behaviors for storm-related CO poisoning and post-storm generator use. Four focus groups (32 participants in total) were conducted with generator owners in winter and summer storm-prone areas to explore home safety, portable generator use, CO poisoning knowledge, and generator safety messages. Discussions were transcribed, and findings analyzed using an ordered meta-matrix approach. Although most generator owners were aware of CO poisoning, many were unsure what constitutes a safe location for generator operation and incorrectly stated that enclosed areas outside the home-such as attached garages, sheds, and covered porches-were safe. Convenience and access to appliances often dictated generator placement. Participants were receptive to installing CO alarms in their homes but were unsure where to place them. These findings suggest a deficit in understanding how to operate portable generators safely and a need to correct misconceptions around safe placement. In terms of behavioral price, the simple installation and maintenance of inexpensive CO alarms may be the most important strategy for ultimately protecting homes from both storm-related and other CO exposures.

Enhancing Fire Department Home Visiting Programs

This study evaluates the impact of an enhanced fire department home visiting program on community participation and installation of smoke alarms, and describes the rate of fire and burn hazards observed in homes. Communities were randomly assigned to receive either a standard or enhanced home visiting program. Before implementing the program, 603 household surveys were completed to determine comparability between the communities. During a 1-year intervention period, 171 home visits took place with 8080 homes. At baseline, 60% of homes did not have working smoke alarms on every level, 44% had unsafe water temperatures, and 72% did not have carbon monoxide alarms. Residents in the enhanced community relative to those in the standard community were significantly more likely to let the fire fighters into their homes (75 vs 62%). Among entered homes, those in the enhanced community were significantly more likely to agree to have smoke alarms installed (95 vs 92%), to be left with a working smoke alarm on every level of the home (84 vs 78%), and to have more smoke alarms installed per home visited (1.89 vs 1.74). The high baseline rates of home hazards suggest that fire department home visiting programs should take an "all hazards" approach. Community health workers and community partnerships can be effective in promoting fire departments' fire and life safety goals. Public health academic centers should partner with the fire service to help generate evidence on program effectiveness that can inform decision making about resource allocation for prevention.

ENHANCING FIRE DEPARTMENT HOME VISITS THROUGH IMPROVED PROGRAM MONITORING

BackgroundHouse fires remain a significant problem in the U.S. and around the world. Despite a decades-long Home Visit (HV) program by the Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD), including free smoke...

Smoke Alarm Giveaway and Installation Programs: An Economic Evaluation

The burden of residential fire injury and death is substantial. Targeted smoke alarm giveaway and installation programs are popular interventions used to reduce residential fire mortality and morbidity. To evaluate the cost effectiveness and cost benefit of implementing a giveaway or installation program in a small hypothetic community with a high risk of fire death and injury through a decision-analysis model. Model inputs included program costs; program effectiveness (life-years and quality-adjusted life-years saved); and monetized program benefits (medical cost, productivity, property loss and quality-of-life losses averted) and were identified through structured reviews of existing literature (done in 2011) and supplemented by expert opinion. Future costs and effectiveness were discounted at a rate of 3% per year. All costs were expressed in 2011 U.S. dollars. Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) resulted in an average cost-effectiveness ratio (ACER) of $51,404 per quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) saved and $45,630 per QALY for the giveaway and installation programs, respectively. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) showed that both programs were associated with a positive net benefit with a benefit-cost ratio of 2.1 and 2.3, respectively. Smoke alarm functional rate, baseline prevalence of functional alarms, and baseline home fire death rate were among the most influential factors for the CEA and CBA results. Both giveaway and installation programs have an average cost-effectiveness ratio similar to or lower than the median cost-effectiveness ratio reported for other interventions to reduce fatal injuries in homes. Although more effort is required, installation programs result in lower cost per outcome achieved compared with giveaways.

Spatial impact of burglar alarms on the decline of residential burglary

Private security could be given a greater role in the crime prevention infrastructure. The growth of private security industry has raised new challenges for researchers and policy-maker over years. Its contribution to crime prevention has been under-utilized, under-researched and underestimated. In particular, the deterrent effect of burglar alarms and their impact on crime have not been adequately researched. The data of residential burglary incidents and residential burglar alarm permit records are integrated with a geographical information system program to analyze a spatial impact of alarms on burglary at the city-wide level. The current study focuses on data pertaining to Newark, New Jersey and shows that (i) dense concentrations of alarm installations exist, (ii) these concentrations are in considerable proximity, and (iii) they are isolated from the hotspots of burglary incidents. Such a pattern is taken as evidence of ‘diffusion of benefits’, suggesting that residential alarms have a beneficial impact by decreasing burglary incidents.

주택용화재경보기의 설치에 미치는 요인에 관한 연구

본 연구는 일본 고베시의 6개 지구를 중심으로 주택용화재경보기의 보급률과 지역방재력 향상을 위해, 주택용화재경보기 설치 현황과 설치에 미치는 영향 요인에 대하여 분석을 실시하였다. 본 연구를 통해 얻은 결과 및 제안사항은 다음과 같이 요약할 수 있다. 주택용화재경보기 의무화 관련 지식 및 정보의 전달이 설치율을 향상시키는 중요한 요소임에도 불구하고, 미설치이유를 살펴보면 효과적인 전달이 이루어지지 못하고 있는 것이 밝혀졌다. 그리고 주택용화재경보기 설치행동 및 의식에 영향을 미치는 요인을 살펴본 결과, 방재지식 정보 의식의 특성에서는 방재활동, 주경기에 대한 관심도, 필요성인식, 의무화인지가 설치행동 및 의식에 상당한 연관성이 있는 것으로 확인되었다. 또 사회적 특성에서 연령과 가족유무보다 소득수준이 관련성이 높은 것으로 나타났다. This study aims to analyze factors to influence installation situation and installation of household fire alarms in 6 zones in Kobe, Japan to increase the distribution rate of household fire alarms and enhance local disaster prevention capability. The major results and implications of this study are as follows. It was found that knowledge and information about household fire alarms weren't effectively delivered to residents, even though they are important elements to improve the installation rate of household fire alarms. And, when analyzing factors to have impacts on installation behavior and awareness of household fire alarms, disaster prevention activity, concern in household fire alarms, recognition of necessity for them and awareness of obligation of installing them were substantially associated with installation behavior and consciousness in the category of characteristics of disaster prevention knowledge, information and consciousness. Also, an income level was more related to them than age and family status in the category of social characteristics.

An Analysis of the Performance of Smoke Alarms

Test results from the NIST 2008 Smoke Alarm Sensitivity Study were used in a smoke alarm performance analysis to examine the effects of pre-movement time, reduced travel speeds through smoke, and smoke optical density limit on occupant survivability given different smoke alarm installations. Smoke alarm installations that meet the requirements in the current National Fire Alarm code NFPA 72 were considered. Alarm times from commercially-available photoelectric, ionization, and dual photoelectric/ionization alarms were used in the analysis to examine the effects of smoke alarm type on the predicted survivability for a range of fire and egress scenarios. Fire scenarios included both flaming and initially smoldering upholstered chair mock-ups. Egress scenarios considered occupants located in, or remote from the room of fire origin. Reduced travel speed through smoke was included in the analysis. Prior to occupant movement and as an occupant travels to the exit, the fractional effective dose from toxic gas and heat exposure were computed to determine survivability. The concept of relative effectiveness as performance metric for smoke alarms is introduced. The relative effectiveness is the fraction of occupants that successfully escape a given fire and egress scenario. It is computed by considering a frequency distribution for the pre-movement time and determining the cumulative fraction of occupants that successfully escape. Thus, the relative effectiveness of a smoke alarm type or installation requirement can be averaged over a large number of fire and egress scenarios. The pre-movement frequency distribution was modeled as a log-normal function. Experimental studies suggest that the median value of the distribution relates to characteristics of the population and a geometric standard deviation of 1.6 characterizes the width the distributions. The distribution median was varied to examine relative effectiveness skewed to more vulnerable populations (those slower to react). Travel speed was modeled as a function of smoke optical density which predicts reduced travel speed as thicker smoke is encountered. Model results showed photoelectric alarms had the lowest relative effectiveness values for flaming fires, while ionization alarms had the lowest relative effectiveness values for smoldering fires. These trends were expected based the results of previous studies. It was observed that there can be a steep increase in relative effectiveness, depending on the smoke alarm type and fire scenario, as the smoke optical density limit was increased from 0.25 m-1 to 0.50 m-1. However, the ranking of smoke alarms tend to remain the same. Given the magnitude of statistically significant mean values of relative effectiveness for all flaming and smoldering fires considered, the model results suggest that there is a benefit from a combination of alarm technologies, and that vulnerable populations who may require significantly more time to escape, regardless of the fire scenario, would benefit the most from dual alarms or side-by side photoelectric and ionization alarms.

An Analysis of the Performance of Smoke Alarms

Test results from the NIST 2008 Smoke Alarm Sensitivity Study were used in a smoke alarm performance analysis to examine the effects of pre-movement time, reduced travel speeds through smoke, and smoke optical density limit on occupant survivability given different smoke alarm installations. Smoke alarm installations that meet the requirements in the current National Fire Alarm Code NFPA 72 were considered. Alarm times from commercially-available photoelectric, ionization, and dual photoelectric/ionization alarms were used in the analysis to examine the effects of smoke alarm type on the predicted survivability for a range of fire and egress scenarios. Fire scenarios included both flaming and initially smoldering upholstered chair mock-ups. Egress scenarios considered occupants located in, or remote from the room of fire origin. Reduced travel speed through smoke was included in the analysis. Prior to occupant movement and as an occupant travels to the exit, the fractional effective dose from toxic gas and heat exposure were computed to determine survivability. The concept of relative effectiveness as performance metric for smoke alarms is introduced. The relative effectiveness is the fraction of occupants that successfully escape a given fire and egress scenario. It is computed by considering a frequency distribution for the premovement time and determining the cumulative fraction of occupants that successfully escape. Thus, the relative effectiveness of a smoke alarm type or installation requirement can be averaged over a large number of fire and egress scenarios. The pre-movement frequency distribution was modeled as a lognormal function. Experimental studies suggest that the median value of the distribution relates to characteristics of the population and a geometric standard deviation of 1.6 characterizes the width the distributions. The distribution median was varied to examine relative effectiveness skewed to more vulnerable populations (those slower to react). Travel speed was modeled as a function of smoke optical density which predicts reduced travel speed as thicker smoke is encountered. Model results showed photoelectric alarms had the lowest relative effectiveness values for flaming fires, while ionization alarms had the lowest relative effectiveness values for smoldering fires. These trends were expected based the results of previous studies. It was observed that there can be a steep increase in relative effectiveness, depending on the smoke alarm type and fire scenario, as the smoke optical density limit was increased from 0.25 m -1 to 0.50 m -1 . However, the ranking of smoke alarms tend to remain the same. Given the magnitude of statistically significant mean values of relative effectiveness for all flaming and smoldering fires considered, the model results suggest that there is a benefit from a combination of alarm technologies, and that vulnerable populations who may require significantly more time to escape, regardless of the fire scenario, would benefit the most from dual alarms or side-by-side photoelectric and ionization alarms.

Spatial Analyses of Installation Patterns and Characteristics of Residential Burglar Alarms

The dearth of research on spatial analyses for installation patterns and characteristics of residential burglar alarms exists in the crime prevention literature in general, and even a few existing studies are based on observational and anthropological approaches with little quantitative analyses. Spatially analytical approaches have not been used to examine the distribution and pattern of burglar alarms. With installation record of burglar alarms, spatial statistical techniques are used to examine spatial patterns of residential burglar alarms with demographic, socioeconomic, and housing characteristic variables. Various spatial analyses demonstrate that at a macro-level, many spatially concentrated areas of burglar alarm installation are observed, indicating that installation patterns of residential burglar alarms are not evenly distributed throughout the city. Such patterns occur depending on neighborhoods’ conditions such as demographic, socioeconomic, and housing characteristics. A higher black population and neighborhoods with a higher proportion of the younger population—ages below 17 years, lower unemployment rate, and higher proportion of black householders are among identified variables to explain spatial characteristics and patterns of burglar alarm installations. A feasible policy implication from the present study is that crime prevention communities (e.g., local governments, police department, private security companies) can utilize research findings to promote local communities and neighborhoods with property crime problems to use alarm systems as part of crime prevention efforts in conjunction with local crime data analysis.

Preventing unintentional injuries to children in the home: a systematic review of the effectiveness of programmes supplying and/or installing home safety equipment

In children under the age of five, the majority of unintentional injuries occur in the home, with higher levels of injury morbidity and mortality being found among those from more deprived backgrounds. This paper presents the findings of a systematic review about the effectiveness of programmes in decreasing unintentional injury rates to children (aged up to 15 years) in the home. The effectiveness of the provision of home safety equipment with or without installation, safety education or a home risk assessment is presented by outcome: injury rates, installation of smoke alarms and installation of other home safety equipment. Analysis of the statistically significant evidence suggests that few programmes reduce injury rates in children except where home safety equipment is supplied in conjunction with a home risk assessment, although this effect was only evident in households where a child had previously suffered an unintentional injury. The distribution of smoke alarms alone is insufficient for improving installation rates; programmes containing an education component showed more success. Interventions integrated into wider health programmes, where trusting relationships with householders were cultivated and/or where specific safety issues identified by a community were responded to also showed greater success in increasing smoke alarm installation rates. The evidence of effectiveness on installation rates of other home safety equipment is highly mixed, although there is some evidence to suggest that installation rates always decrease after 6 months. Where stair gates are both supplied and installed, inequalities in rates of use may be reduced.

Smoke Alarm and Battery Function 42 Months After Installation: A Randomized Trial

This randomized trial presents findings from the longest follow-up study of smoke alarm and battery function to date. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in long-term function of smoke alarm and battery combinations. A total of 691 households in an ongoing cohort study were randomly allocated into smoke alarm groups of ionizing and photoelectric and battery groups of zinc and lithium. Smoke alarm function was measured in 633 (91.6%) households from January 2007 through February 2008, 42 months following original smoke alarm/battery installation. Data analyses were conducted in 2009. After 3.5 years, 81.9% of the 1898 smoke alarms were functional. Ionizing alarms with zinc batteries were the least likely to function (72.7%). In comparison, photoelectric alarms with lithium batteries were 2.9 times (95% CI=1.8, 4.5) more likely to function; ionizing alarms with lithium batteries were 2.0 times (95% CI=1.3, 3.1) more likely to function; and photoelectric alarms with zinc batteries were 1.7 times (95% CI=1.1, 2.5) more likely to function. Functionality was strongly tied to number of reports of nuisance alarms, which was higher for ionizing than photoelectric alarms. Photoelectric smoke alarms and lithium batteries are the most likely to function long after smoke alarm installation, and may be worthwhile investments despite their increased cost.

Installation Trends and Characteristics of Residential Burglar Alarms

Private security in the United States has a long and rich history. Since 1851 when Alan Pinkerton founded what would become the Pinkerton Detective Agency, private security has grown to become a $104 billion industry and undertaken a significant range of functions in crime prevention efforts. One such application is burglary alarm. Despite its increasing usage and potential for crime prevention, few academic studies have focused on its installation trends and characteristics. With alarm permit records descriptive analyses can examine installation trends of residential burglar alarms. Correlation and regression analyses scrutinize both the statistical association of alarm installation and the causal relationship of installation characteristics with demographic, socioeconomic, and housing characteristic variables. Among significant variables are population by race, population ages below 14, 15–17, and over 75, unemployment rate, residential burglary rate, and owner's occupancy to explain installation patterns and characteristics of burglar alarm systems in residential areas.