Using a cluster randomized controlled trial to determine the effects of intervention of battery and hardwired smoke alarms in New South Wales, Australia: Home fire safety checks pilot program

Tannous, Kathy; Whybro, Mark; Lewis, Chris; Ollerenshaw, Michael; Watson, Graeme; Broomhall, Susan; Agho, Kingsley

doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2015.11.001

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The results show clearly that, in Sweden, considerable differences exist in household fire protection practices between different socio-demographic groups. These results are consistent with previous studies that have found a significantly lower use of preventative measures or practices amongst ethnic minority families [27,28,45,46], single-households and low income families [29], individuals with a lower educational level [47,48] as well as those living in socially deprived areas [49,50], thereby indicating that the level of protection is a highly plausible cause of the socio-demographic differentiation in fire-related mortality.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Household Fire Protection Practices in Relation to Socio-demographic Characteristics: Evidence from a Swedish National Survey

Nilson

Bonander

2019

Fire Technol

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The sociodemographic inequalities in the ownership of residential fire safety equipment, fire prevention practices and fire protection knowledge was studied using an inductive and data-driven approach based on the responses to a national Swedish survey containing individual-level data on several dimensions of home fire safety practices (n = 7507). Cluster analysis was used to summarise home fire safety data and sociodemographic characteristics of the sample were then regressed on the data ordinal regression analysis. The results showed significant correlations between the level of fire protection and a range of factors (sex, age, family composition, income, housing type and country of birth), suggesting a positive effect of socioeconomic success. Further, the results imply that having experienced a residential fire has a positive impact on future fire protection practices, and that higher levels of fire protection interest increases the probability of having a functional smoke detector.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Household Fire Protection Practices in Relation to Socio-demographic Characteristics: Evidence from a Swedish National Survey

Nilson

Bonander

2019

Fire Technol

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“…A study conducted by Bruck (2001), combined several strands of research - auditory sleep arousal thresholds, responsiveness to auditory signals during sleep and responsiveness to smoke detector alarms during sleep – with data on fire fatalities and characteristics of victims. However, limited research has been undertaken in NSW into domestic fire emergency escape plans for residential fire-related disasters [23]. Therefore, the current study aimed to use data from a home visit program to assess the relationships between a range of demographic factors and domestic fire emergency escape plans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Domestic fire emergency escape plans among the aged in NSW, Australia: the impact of a fire safety home visit program

Tannous

Agho

2019

BMC Public Health

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Background Domestic fire-related injuries and deaths among the aged remain a concern of many countries including Australia. This study aimed to assess the impact of a home fire safety visit project on domestic fire emergency escape plans among the 373 aged persons using multivariate analyses. Method The study used data from a collaborative intervention program by three emergency agencies in New South Wales. It covered 373 older people at registration and 156 at post home visit follow-up. The five fire emergency escape plan outcome measures (participants having a working smoke alarm, finding out what to do if there was a fire at their home, making a plan to escape their home in the event of a fire, finding out how to escape their home in an emergency and finding out how to maintain their installed smoke alarm) were examined by adjusting for key characteristics of participants, using a generalized estimating equation (GEE) model that adjusted for repeated measures in order to examine the association between the home visit program and fire emergency escape plans. Results There were significant improvements in participants’ likelihood of finding out what to do if there was a fire in their home [AOR; 95% CI 1.89 (1.59–2.26)], making a plan to escape their home [AOR; 95% CI 1.80 (1.50–2.17)], how to escape their home in an emergency [AOR; 95% CI 1.33 (1.07–1.66)] and how to maintain their smoke alarm [AOR; 95% CI 1.77 (1.48–2.12)]. Female participants were less likely to have a plan to escape their home in the event of a fire [AOR; 95% CI 0.86 (0.75–0.99)] and to find out how to escape their home in an emergency [AOR; 95% CI 0.71 (0.61–0.82)] compared with their male counterparts. Additionally, participants who spoke languages other than English at home were significantly less likely to have a working smoke alarm [AOR; 95% CI 0.88 (0.38–0.69)]. Conclusion Our findings suggest that home visit programs are able to increase fire safety of vulnerable and isolated older people.

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“…The extant literature reveals that most home fire-related injuries and deaths result from smoke inhalation and toxic fumes rather than burns ( NSW Fire Brigades, 2009 , Ahrens, 2009 , Atiyeh et al, 2009 , Edelman, 2007 , Hsiung et al, 2007 , Harpur et al, 2013 ). International research has established that the majority of residential fires and associated injuries are preventable, and that the use of functional smoke alarms is a crucial and inexpensive prevention method ( Haynes, 2015 , Ahrens, 2009 , Ballesteros and Kresnow, 2007 , Parmer et al, 2006 , Tannous et al, 2016 , Chubb, 2003 , Thomas and Bruck, 2015 ). Studies in Australia have found that occupants in homes without smoke alarms face more than five times the risk of fire-related injury or death compared to homes with smoke alarms ( Parmer et al, 2006 , Tannous et al, 2016 , Wright, 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-demographic predictors of residential fire and unwillingness to call the fire service in New South Wales

Tannous

Agho

2017

Preventive Medicine Reports

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In most industrialised countries, the majority of fire-related deaths and injuries occur in the home. Australia has implemented fire prevention programs and strategies, including the use of smoke alarms, to minimise this burden. The number of reported house fires has declined over the past decade. However, there is a growing recognition that unreported fires are important in the estimation of total fire hazards and their associated injuries. This current study used data from the 2014 New South Wales (NSW) Population Health Survey, a yearly telephone survey, consisting of 14,732 survey respondents. Univariate and multiple binary logistic regression models were conducted to examine predictors of residential fire and (un)willingness to call the fire service in the event of a residential fire. The proportion of respondents who experienced residential fires in NSW was 10% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.3, 10.8). The proportion of respondents who were willing to call the fire service was 3.1% (95% CI: 2.7%, 3.6%) and that of respondents unwilling to call was 6.9% (95% CI: 6.3%, 7.6%). Multivariate analyses revealed that respondents spoke another language in addition to English were significantly less likely to have experienced a home fire (odds ratio [OR] = 0.46; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.65, p < 0.001) and significantly less likely to call the fire service (OR = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.21, 0.54, p < 0.001), compared with those who only spoke English at home. The results in this study will inform Fire & Rescue NSW's ongoing development of appropriate interventions and awareness-raising programs about residential fire prevention.

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Using a cluster randomized controlled trial to determine the effects of intervention of battery and hardwired smoke alarms in New South Wales, Australia: Home fire safety checks pilot program

Cited by 14 publications

References 16 publications

Household Fire Protection Practices in Relation to Socio-demographic Characteristics: Evidence from a Swedish National Survey

Household Fire Protection Practices in Relation to Socio-demographic Characteristics: Evidence from a Swedish National Survey

Domestic fire emergency escape plans among the aged in NSW, Australia: the impact of a fire safety home visit program

Socio-demographic predictors of residential fire and unwillingness to call the fire service in New South Wales

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