Fire and Rescue Services Management with Special Attention to the Elderly in Society - Research Proposal Example

Name : xxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxx Title Fire and rescue services management with special attention to the elderly in society Course : xxxxxx Institution : xxxxxx Chapter I: Introduction The fire and Rescue Services Act (2004) has for core values that include Fire Safety, Fire fighting, Road traffic accidents and Emergencies. These are aimed at ensuring that accidents of various types that occur in the country are dealt with and the affected are taken care of accordingly. Accidents occur every other minute due to different causes, some of which are preventable and some of which are inevitable, occurring as a result of circumstances. However, most of the accidents that occur are preventable. Accidents are a major cause of death and incapacitation leading t disability and dependency. It is recorded that one person succumbs to the injuries sustained from accidents sustained according to Kendrick (2003). As a result of accidents, a lot of money is spent on caring for the injured and disabled whereas that money could have channelled to other avenues, to improve the lives of the citizens of a country. Statement of the problem Fire accident continues being a threat as it occurs and ends up affecting the aged in the society and results in disability loss of life as a consequence of avoidable situations is on the rise. Accidents are more pronounced in children and the old people in the society. This is because these groups have a low reaction rate that could have otherwise checked the effects of the accident, or rather prevented the accident form happening altogether. This research paper mainly focuses on the risks faced by the elderly people in society. The elderly people are much more vulnerable to accidents as compared to the other age groups in society. These people are in such a fragile position to risks such as fires in the homes, falls and drug and substance use. Most of these elderly people, a god number of them with significant disability live alone in the conventional housing system. A high proportion of these people, especially the older women, receive home-based care and services provided through health agencies and voluntary organizations. Purpose The goal of this study is to find out ways in which the threats to elderly people in the community posed by fire accidents can be reduced and or eliminated altogether and therefore improve fire safety and prevention measures in the society. There is therefore need to continue developing fire safety and prevention programmes for the older people in society and also other vulnerable groups from accidents. Given that there is an increase in the number of older people in society, these safety and preventive measures should be developed for the good of the society and targeted to all parts of the country as national projects. In lieu of this, it is proposed that the fire and safety prevention programmes recognise that Population ageing and the vulnerabilities of older people to fires suggests a potential for higher casualties if new fire safety and prevention initiatives are not developed, that Although some will require residential care, a majority of older people are best placed in their own homes which afford a high degree of familiarity and independence, that Appropriate fire safety and prevention programmes for older people must address general fire risks in the home, and specific risks identified by research and that the effectiveness of fire safety and prevention programmes is recognition that target audiences are heterogeneous and therefore multiple strategies are required to promote key safety messages. Chapter II: Background It is therefore apparent that there is a need for a national fire safety initiative to address the risks affecting older people. This is occasioned by the recognition that older people are much more vulnerable to risks from fires and are a growing proportion of the population. Effective interventions will require the collective involvement of health and social agencies, voluntary organizations, and most importantly, the affected older people who have an interest in reducing the risks that face them, especially that posed by fire. Therefore there is a great need to improve the state of affairs and targets to reduce the risks and challenges faced by older people in preventing accidents caused by fires, and these include attending to factors and designing them in such a way that they improve fire protection for the older people. Some of these include improving the design of cooking equipment heaters and bedding to improve safety and protection. Reliable fire extinguishers which are easy to operate and affective and efficient alarm systems that take into consideration the disabilities of the older people, for example mobility restrictions and sensory disadvantages, should also be considered (Fraser, 1997). The older people, who are the centre of discussion, should be involved in the fire and safety programmes at all levels Kendrick (2007). Reports that this ensures the key issues, methods and materials are relevant to the older people. In this case, appropriate language that is understandable to the older people should be used as the means of information delivery. An example of one of these initiatives that involves the older people in fire safety and prevention programmes is the Lancashire fire and rescue services. With over 1,500 members of staff who give a wide range of emergency and preventative services, the employees of the organization are very much dedicated to creating an effective environment that is healthy and safe for the residents Lancashire. Health and safety are emphasised at the organization as key priority. In 2009 the organization entered into partnership with Barchester, one of the health care providers in the U.K. and improving the standards of health and safety of in both for the workforce and the community as the basic aim of the partnership scheme. The organization therefore seeks more new and better strategies that will improve the health and safety of the community at large and its workforce too. Fire risks to older people also require the involvement of other parties in the fight of these accidents. The fire services and fire protection agencies will therefore need to work closely with other agencies in the disseminating of information on the risks of fire, encouraging the use of safe practices with special relation to cooking and heating, the development of relevant escape routes including the seeking of neighbors’ help when in need among others Kendrick (2007). By including all these study information and proposals, there is a higher chance that the fire accidents and other risks that the elderly in society are exposed to will be reduced drastically and safety and prevention measures will be practiced accordingly and to the latter. Since prevention is better than cure, the information and education given to the elderly will enable them to take the necessary measures that will prevent the occurrence of these fire accidents that are a threat to human life. Chapter III: Methodology This research mainly focuses on an already written research proposal in the field of Fire and rescue services management with special attention to the elderly in the society. The report titled Health and Safety which focuses mainly on the Lancashire area tries to bring solutions to the problem of fire and safety concerns among the elderly in the society Kendrick (2007) . Research will be done with this report as a basis of investigations and it will build up on the matters raised in the report. Search engines such as Google will be used in the finding of important statistics and information relative to this topic. The Fire and Rescue Services Act will also be an important information source as it will guide in the provision of targets and goals towards achieving fire and safety standards in the country. As described in the report, personal interviews were carried out by a team of fire experts and this will be a sample of the elderly population, therefore deductions will be done from the results of these oral interviews. Questionnaires could also be administered, but this may pose a challenge if the elderly folk do not know how to read and write well. The questionnaire could in this case be filled by the researchers as they ask the questions. Another method of carrying out this research would be to interview the fire and rescue services crew on the challenges they face in their operation as related to the elderly. Basically, these firemen are in a very good position to tell the faults that the elderly are making and this information will thus be used in the eventual education of other people and it will assist in the prevention of accidents. In the eventuality that a fire accident has occurred and it involves the elderly, the firemen at the scene will identify the hurdles that exist during the rescue operation and therefore will advice on better planning of escape routes and strategies in future. This could also be used to educate other elderly folk. Limitations Some of the limitations that may be faced in this research include the inability of the elderly people in society to read and write. This factor may have a negative impact on the data collection procedures, especially when use of questionnaires is applied. It might take a longer time for them to be filled and also after they are done with the questionnaires, the information given in the issued questionnaires might be incomplete. Health problems faced by the elderly might be a hindrance to the data collection procedures. The researcher might find it difficult to communicate with the respondent due to disease that prevents the respondent from talking. The feedback is therefore compromised. Also, difficulty in hearing as a result of disease and old age leads to a break in communication as the information relayed by the researcher might not reach the respondent, and or may be interpreted differently as per the respondent. Furthermore, problems of vision faced by the elderly might slow down the data collection and dissemination processes. Sight is a very important sense and most of the precautions are initiated by sight, or example activating the alarm, identifying the escape route and also receiving information from the researchers. Inadequate time to go round collecting data and information from the respondents might be a hindrance to the application of the fire and safety measures. Lack of sufficient data and information might lead to overlooking of certain aspects and areas that have different and unique needs from the other areas. Sampling of data and information means that only a certain portion of the community is covered. However, the findings of that sample may not be generalised to the larger community, hence the need to carry out extensive research of the whole community. In order for the fire and rescue service crew to carry out their deities in a proper manner, they ought to be well trained. Lack of training of these people may lead to misjudgement and misinformation. Definitely one cannot give out information that they do not possess. Hence the fire department crew ought to be sufficiently and well trained in order for them to execute their duties in a manner that fits the situation. Assumptions Some of the assumptions made in this paper are that the sample population that will be chosen to carry out the study and data collection can be generalised to the wider community. This is because the needs, abilities and disabilities, shortcomings and circumstances of the community are different and that there are no unique occurrences that cannot be captured by the study. Another assumption is that the fire and rescue crew are trained in a similar way and the quality of training and their standards too are similar so that the application of services is uniform throughout. And that the crew also exercise similar traits such as patience, however, this is not the case with man. Chapter IV: Results According to the Lancashire fire and safety department report, the educational procedures used to disseminate the information on fire safety and prevention should be reviewed for more efficiency. These methods, it says, should be simplified and made easier for the elderly people in the society, taking into consideration the disabilities and handicaps faced by the elderly. Their learning capabilities do not match that of younger people, ad whereas the convention normal educational procedures and programmes can be understood by the young people with ease, this is not so with the elderly Kendrick D., Groom L. and Hippisley-Cox J. (2003). It also recommends that the educational processes could be reviewed and developed in a manner such that care standards and ethics are maintained and upheld in wile in the implementation of the fire eradication and reduction strategies among the elderly. It also recognises that the employees of the Lancashire fire department should be well and adequately trained to deal with fire and other forms of emergencies. Other personal traits such as patience during a concept demonstration should also be encouraged to ensure that the elderly people to whom the information is targeted get the message in a clear and concise manner. Discussion Fire accidents are a common type of accidents that affect all people in general. Special attention is given to the children and the elderly as they are at a greater risk from these accidents, and they might eventually die as a result of these accidents. It has been noted that frailty and health problems are the leading cause of accidents in the elderly in society, especially those aged 75 years and above. This is due to the decreased rate of reaction in the event that something happens. The elderly are also at risk because their impaired judgement might lead them to making a decision that results in an accident. Some of the findings that might help n the control of these accidents are incorporating environmental interventions have a role in safety for the disabled or elderly people living at home - this has led to the concept of 'smart homes'. Some aspects incorporated in the smart homes concept include alarm or monitoring devices and other safety features (Chan 2009). It should be noted that the Safety of those residing in the home care centres require social and emotional well-being in addition to physical safety, and this increases the chances of fire safety and prevention among the elderly in society. For fire safety among the elderly, smoke detectors should be fitted on every floor and batteries renewed regularly, fire escape route should be planned accordingly and as required. This should incorporate any disability to the elderly people or the persons concerned (Department of Health 1999). Fire guards should be used. Portable heaters and candles should be kept away from furniture, clothes and curtains and other flammable equipment around the house. Cooking equipment such as fat friers and 'chip pans' are a serious fire risk. Care should be exercised when using this equipment, and if there is a chip pan fire, the heat should be turned off if it safe to do so and the emergency number 999 called. Moving the pan and pouring water on it in an attempt to put out the fire is strongly discouraged as this could cause a fireball (Kendrick, 2003). Circuit overloads should be avoided. The electrical wiring should be regularly checked for any faults that could cause fire accidents. Other factors that should be improved are the design factors of the elderly peoples’ homes. The idea of the ‘smart homes’, that incorporates fire protection and safety, is workable idea that should be embraced throughout the country. However, not all of the recommendations can be applied due to the cost factors, but the major fire safety threats could be addressed in the home design. The design of cooking equipment like stoves, heaters and other electrical appliances should be considered and aim is for them to be safe at all costs(Carter,1995). The study at Lancashire community mainly focussed on the qualitative aspect of the research in order to come up with basic information that directly affects the elderly folk and considers all the challenges and shortcomings. Issues of impaired vision and disease conditions are addressed and the mode of interview chosen is oral interview and some of the questions targeted to the elderly include why the elderly chose to stay at home rather than attend the home care centers for the elderly, the number of times that the elderly individuals have experienced emergencies, especially fire accidents and how they responded in that event Kendrick D., Groom L. and Hippisley-Cox J. (2003). the procedures and steps that they took in the event of the accidents and they were also asked if they could join and be part of a specialized emergency training offered by the Lancashire fire department. Initiation of educative programmes and information forums should be done in such a manner that the information relayed boosts the confidence of the fire department and enhances their reliability. The basis of this is the values and cultures that emphasise on integrity and respect of the much elderly people. This also encourages the elderly people to get them involved in the projects that are initiated by the Lancashire fire department. Fontana (1999) says that the aim of this is to ensure that the policies and regulations of the organization are followed as the research and implementation of the education forums. Chapter V: Conclusions and Recommendations. Generally, it can be concluded that fire accidents put the elderly in society at a greater risk of losing their lives as a result of the injuries sustained. Lack of information on fire safety and prevention procedures also contribute to the high rate of fire accidents among the elderly in society. Therefore appropriate measures should be taken to ensure that the elderly are well educated, and in a suitable manner that they can understand, on the methods and precautions that they should follow in order to ensure their safety. Proper training of the fire service department crew should be well and uniformly trained s as to be in a position to tackle any incidences or accidents of fire that may affect the elderly in society. References Carter, Y. H., Morgan, P. S. A. and Lancashire, R. J. (1995) General practitioners’ attitudes to child injury prevention in the UK: a national postal questionnaire. Injury Prevention, 164, 164–168. Chan M, Campo E, Esteve D, et al. 2009; Smart homes - current features and future perspectives. Maturitas. Oct 20; 64(2):90-7. Epub 2009 Sep 2. Department of Health (1999) Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation. The Stationery Office, London. Fontana, G. (1999). Developing a Comprehensive Fire and Safety program for older adults. Applied research project.Jul: pp 270-188. Fraser J. The treatment of burns in children. BMJ. 1997; i: 1089–1092. Kendrick D., Groom L. and Hippisley-Cox J. (2003). Accidental injury: a neglected area within Primary Care Groups and Trusts? Health Educ Res. Jun; 18(3):380-8. Kendrick D, Coupland C, Mulvaney CA, Simpson J, Smith SJ, Sutton A,. Home safety and provision of safety equipment for injury prevention. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007; Issue 1. Art. No.: CD005014. DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD00514.pub2. Kendrick D., Groom L. and Hippisley-Cox J. (2003). Appendix Project proposal. It is recommended that the fire and rescue department workers be assessed on the level of preparedness to fire accidents and emergency calls responses to the elderly in the society. Read More