Draft Abstract
Effective evaluation of a Smoke Alarm Project
Craig T. Reeves, MSPH; Leroy Frazier, Jr., MSPH, CHES; Olufunmilayo Olugbesan
The South Carolina Residential Fire Injury Prevention Program (RFIPP) developed partnerships with district health departments, fire departments, community agencies, sororities and others to prevent residential house fires in low income areas. In 1997, CDC ranked South Carolina 3rd in the nation for residential fire-related deaths. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), with funding from Centers of Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), installed smoke alarms in 6 target communities. Partner agencies and organizations were used to identify and install smoke alarms in target homes of low income families.
These counties were identified by the high incidence rates of injury/fatalities due to fire; high numbers of actual injuries/fatalities; and/or socioeconomic status of the community. The program targeted families with young children and elderly. The project has several key programmatic elements, particularly, telephone and door-to-door surveys were performed to assess effectiveness. Telephone follow-up surveys contacted all recipients and determined that a high % of the smoke alarms in the 6 targeted counties were still present and functioning 1 year after installation. A follow-up door-to-door random sample survey (25% of recipients) provided verification of the reliability of the telephone survey results.
This presentation will discuss how the program was developed and implemented, methods for obtaining community based support, barriers encountered, lessons learned, and the potential for statewide replication.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to: 1. Better understand how fire injury prevention programs can be incorporated into existing programs to maximize resources; 2. Increase value of existing programs; 3. Increase advocates for fire injury prevention; 4. List indicators that indicate a successful evaluation of an injury prevention program; 5. Articulate the procedure for evaluating a smoke alarm program; and, 6. Develop a residential fire injury prevention program.
Keywords: Evaluation, Injury Prevention
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.