Many smoke alarms now have 10-year batteries; people tend to ignore the original "change your batteries" message. Our new message reminds them they should check even 10-year batteries to make sure they are still working.
We connect our message to the biannual time change because both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommend checking smoke alarms at least twice a year.
The website www.homefiredrill.org is a resource for families to learn more about the importance of home fire drills and smoke alarms, as well as to help them plan and practice their own home fire drill.The Democrat & Chronicle ran editorials in September 2007 and November 2008, supporting the initiative and website.Wegmans Food Markets carried an article on the initiative and website in Mary Ellen Burris' column for Nov. 2, 2008, the date of the time change.
Home Fire Drills: Does Your Family Know What to Do?
Prevention 1st Foundation, the City of Rochester and Monroe County created a 15-minute video featuring two Rochester families who learn that they were not as well prepared as they thought to respond when the smoke alarm sounds, and how to plan and practice a home fire drill.
The video has been available on www.homefiredrill.org since October 2008, and the City of Rochester home page has a direct link to it.
The video is also being used in Neighborhood Outreach training sessions being presented to Rochester firefighters by Fireproof Children/Prevention First.
Help Mikey Make It Out
Created with funding from the Office of Family and Children, with the assistance of Senator Joseph Robach, this interactive animated game lets children and their parents and teachers learn what to do when the smoke alarm sounds. It is one of the most popular elements on www.homefiredrill.org.
We sponsor a Practice Your Home Fire Drill Poster Exhibition in partnership with the Office of the Mayor and the County Executive. In Spring 2008 more than 70 posters were displayed around Monroe County including City Hall, Rundel Library, the Rochester Museum & Science Center and Strasenburgh Planetarium, Marketplace Mall, and Mall at Greece Ridge.
Specifically for people with developmental disabilities, we created a four-color, two-sided flyer on ‘Plan and Practice a Home Fire Drill’ and ‘Have smoke alarms that work,’ based on materials from the Home Safety Council and using models from the Arc of Monroe County and School of the Holy Childhood. With funding from the Golisano Foundation and NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, 10,000 copies have been printed and are being distributed.
Home Safety Training Workshops
We offer half-day train-the-trainer workshops, customized for audience and typically including fire prevention and home fire drills, poison prevention, falls prevention and hazard removal.To date these workshops, created and delivered by Fireproof Children Company, have been presented to the staff of 9-1-1, Flower City Habitat for Humanity, Jewish Family Services, Catholic Family Center, the Childcare Council and Wilson Commencement Park. Flower City Habitat for Humanity has made this training a prerequisite for all new homeowners.
Mikey Makes a Mess
This children’s storybook, in English and Spanish, is published by Fireproof Children and distributed through Prevention 1st Foundation.
The book provides important safety education in a fun, engaging story book which has received praise from educators and parents alike.More than 130,000 copies have been distributed nationwide through teachers, daycare providers, Head Start programs, universities, hospitals, fire departments and state fire marshals, Girl Scouts and other community organizations.
Prevention 1st Safety Links Resource Center
Provides news, tips and links to safety-related resources and information on choking and suffocation, drowning, fall prevention, fire and burns, general injury prevention, gun safety, motor vehicle safety, natural disaster injury prevention and poison control.
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