Page 10 - Annual Report 2021

Page 10

Fire Safety & Injury Prevention Programs Reached 3,260 People

Fire Safety programs are provided to a wide range of audiences across
our state. Programs are age appropriate, targeted at groups ranging
from Pre-School to Senior Citizens. They are given for public and private
schools, as well as civic organizations, scout groups, day care centers,
senior citizen groups, agricultural groups, state agencies, and many oth-
ers. Children, teachers and parents may visit our facilities through our
“School Tour Program.” They become familiar with the Fire School and
participate in activities such as Stop, Drop and Roll, Emergency Calling,
Exit Drills in the Home (EDITH), Fire Behavior, and the roles of the Com-
munity Helpers such as Firefighter and EMT’s.

The Delaware State Fire School also partners with several groups to pro-
vide safety messages to the public, including Kent Kids, Delaware Safe
Kids, Injury Prevention Coalition, the American Red Cross, Local Senior
Centers, as well as other State Agencies and Safe Routes to School.

The Fire School attempts to assess and generate current information
regarding Community Risk Assessment. Major resources include but are
not limited to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National
Fire Academy, National Fire Protection Association and the International Fire Service Training Association, all of
which support National Fire Protection Association Standards. We play an active role with groups such as
Safe Kids, Progressive Ag Safety, Center for Campus Fire Safety
and Vision 20/20, expanding the message of Risk Reduction.

With schools going virtual this past year, the Delaware
State Fire School took their fire safety and injury preven-
tion lessons virtual as well. Fire School staff and instruc-
tors developed YouTube videos on a variety of topics and
sent them to schools, per request, for their students to
view as part of their assignments. We also offered virtu-
al safety lessons to schools participating as the guest
teacher in their Zoom and Google Classrooms. The stu-
dents interacted asking questions during the presenta-
tions and some shared their toy fire engines as part of
show and tell. 18 virtual programs were provided to
schools and child care centers during the past school
year.
Another way the Delaware State Fire School was able to
adapt during school and library closures was by offering safety “to go” bags. These bags included safety tips,
fun activities, mini lesson plans the parents could do with their children, coloring pages, and giveaways. Child
Care facilities, Girls and Boys Clubs, and libraries across the state submitted requests for these bags and they
were sent monthly throughout the school year addressing various awareness topics. The safety messages that
were shared with families in these bags included: fire safety, Halloween safety, pedestrian safety, holiday and
toy safety, poison prevention, playground safety, and bike safety. The Delaware State Fire School was able to
partner with several agencies for the safety information included in the bags. 1,888 families received these
“to go” bags to include in their at-home learning and family discussions this past school year.