Fire Does Discriminate
Welcome to the third edition of our newsletter sharing with partners the work NYFRS are doing to keep our communities safe from the effects of fire. Previous editions can be found on our website alongside other resources for partners www.northyorksfire.gov.uk/your-safety/safe-athome/home-fire-safety-partnerships
The Fire Service alone cannot keep communities safe. We need partners to refer vulnerable people to us so that we can provide fire prevention advice in the form of our free Safe and Well visits. People can be vulnerable to fire for all sorts of reasons but a recently published Government review highlights that physical and mental impairments and also substance misuse are significant factors in the starting of a fire and the also the outcome (in the cases they reviewed the outcomes were death and serious injury).
In this edition of Partnering in Fire Prevention we will be providing an update on the referrals we have received from you so far this year, introducing some new members of the Prevention team, exploring the prevention themes we will be focusing on this coming quarter and show case some of the work dementia charities are doing.
Referrals received
We completed over 1000 safe and well visits in the first quarter of the year, 42% of these have originated as a referral from an agency. Baywater, the NHS and NYCC Health and Social Care have provided the largest number of referrals but individuals from an array of agencies have helped us to achieve this.
18% of the referrals we have received from agencies for Safe and Well visits have been classed after the visit as being at very high risk of fire and 21% at high risk. The occupants will all have been given safety advice to reduce the risk of fire starting and will have created a plan to stay safe if the worst was to happen.
Across the county we are keen to work with partners to sustain the number of Safe and Well referrals we receive. Please contact us if there is a further training need or if there are opportunities to educate your staff, volunteers or clients about Safe and Well visits.
Prevention Updates
New members to the team
We are happy to introduce you to our new temporary Watch Manager James Hopkin. He has joined the team after being a Northallerton Wholetime and On Call Firefighter and working as a Crew Manager at our Training Centre in Easingwold. He joins Watch Manager Adam Farrow who you may recognise from chairing the prevention seminar last year.
You may have seen advertised a new role “Head of Early Intervention and Prevention”. This is currently being recruited for and the successful applicant will lead our Prevention delivery going forward.
Safe and well referral partners
16 organisations have already signed up to become safe and well referral partners. This has benefits including access to our information sharing protocol, training and their service being added to our referrals app which is used by the fire service and police officers. If your organisation would like to sign up, just visit our website to find out more https://www.northyorksfire.gov.uk/your-safety/safe-at-home/home-firesafety-partnerships You can email us at Prevention@northyorsfire.gov.uk
Our current list of Safe & Well partners are:
- Accent Housing
- Alzheimers Society
- Carers Plus
- Carers Resource
- Dementia Forward
- Harrogate Easier Living Project
- IDAS
- MySight York
- NYCC Living Well
- NYCC Trading Standards
- Revival North Yorkshire
- Richmondshire District Council
- Selby District Council
- Skipton Step into Action
- Wilberforce Trust
- Yourlife Management Services (McCarthy Stone)
If you think your service should be on this list please get in touch, we would be more than happy to speak with you.
Prevention Campaign Calendar
To ensure the safety messages we are providing are relevant and have the most impact we follow a fire prevention campaign calendar which reflects different seasonal activities. April until September sees us focusing on the risk of wildfire and outdoor fire safety but there are also some national campaign weeks that we will be supporting.
Deaf Awareness Week 2nd May
Mental Health Awareness Week 15th May
Dementia Action Week 15th May
Carers Week and Child Safety Week 5th June
NFCC Home Fire Safety Week 12th June
Safeguarding Week 19th June
We shall be sharing information about all of these campaigns on our social media accounts, please share them to your own pages. If you are holding any events in support of these weeks please get in touch if you would like the Fire Service to attend too.
Deaf awareness week 2nd – 8th May 2023
If somebody is deaf or has hearing loss it is important that they have a smoke alarm that can alert them to a fire so they are able to escape. One type of alarm uses a strobing bedside light and a pad placed under the pillow which vibrates if the ceiling alarm activates. These alarms are particularly beneficial for people who live alone and take their hearing aids out at night-time. During one of our Safe and Well visits we can advise on suitable smoke detection so if somebody you work with has hearing loss and could benefit from fire safety advice please get in touch via our referral form.
Dementia Action Week will run from 15-21 May 2023
Fire safety at home is particularly important for people living with dementia, which is why North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service support Dementia Action Week . A return to engrained habits and ways of doing things can create additional risk, for example placing an electric kettle on a gas hob. Somebody with dementia may experience confusion about what to do if the smoke alarm goes off and may find it more difficult to escape if there is a fire. A person centred Safe and Well visit could make a difference to how long someone is able to remain independent. They can be arranged at a time when a family member or another professional are able to be present and we can advise on the right type of smoke detection, give advice to eliminate or reduce the risk of a fire starting and make onward referrals to other agencies for support. Our Safe and Well books which are left at every visit contain information about the Herbert Protocol and all staff complete Dementia Friends training. Across the county we host a number of dementia friendly breakfast clubs where people with dementia and their carers are welcome to attend a safe, supportive group.
Here, two of our Partners, The Alzheimer’s Society and Dementia Forward explain what the week means to them.
Dementia Forward
There are 944,000 people with dementia in the UK and one in three people born this year will develop dementia in their lifetime. These are startling statistics, which illustrate just how important it is that we raise awareness, reduce stigma, increase research and improve understanding and support.
Dementia Forward is North Yorkshire’s leading dementia charity. We are working every day to improve the lives of people affected by dementia, and during Dementia Action Week (15th – 21st May) we take the opportunity to focus on encouraging everyone to do the same, in whatever way they can. Actions can be big or small: anything from sharing a post on Facebook to organising a fundraising event; learning more about dementia to visiting someone who is affected.
This year, we have a number of events planned, starting with our first Young Onset Dementia conference on May 15th and finishing with a Dementia Discussion event in Craven on May 22nd. There will also be an Awareness Walk in Settle, an information drop-in session in Whitby, a coffee morning in Barmby Moor and an online dementia awareness talk for anyone to join in with. Throughout the week, we will also be sharing lots of information on our website and social media to help people gain a better understanding of dementia and the actions we can all take to support people in our communities.
For more information on any of these events, please follow us on social media (@dementiaforward), visit our website: www.dementiaforward.org.uk or call our Helpline. We would also love to hear from you about the actions you are taking to support families affected by dementia, so please tag us in your comments and photos.
If you or someone you care for is living with dementia, Dementia Forward provides free, confidential, advice and support on our Helpline, which is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm, on 03300 578592.
To receive the link and join in our special Dementia Action Week awareness session on May 16th at 6.30pm, please email info@dementiaforward.org.uk
Alzheimer’s Society
Dementia Action Week is Alzheimer’s Society’s biggest and longest running awareness campaign. Each year, we work with individuals and organisations across the UK to encourage people to ‘act on dementia’. Dementia Action Week 2023 will run from 15-21 May
Dementia Action Week is an awareness raising campaign. Each year, we work with individuals and organisations across the UK to encourage people to ‘act on dementia’.
In 2022, Dementia Action Week encouraged people who are concerned that they or someone they know may be experiencing dementia symptoms to seek further help. We provided information on memory loss, advice on talking to the GP, and ways to cope with memory loss.
Throughout the week, we saw a 43% average increase in calls to our Dementia Connect support line (0333 150 3456) from those seeking information and support.
With a sustained drop in dementia diagnosis rates for the first time ever, we undertook research to understand the key barriers and benefits to getting a diagnosis.
As well as the misconception around memory loss just being part of getting old, our research found being in denial, and referral times to specialists, are big barriers for those experiencing symptoms to seek a diagnosis.
Getting a diagnosis can be daunting, but we believe it’s better to know. And so do 91% of people affected by dementia.
For more information, please visit https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/dementia-action-week
Safeguarding Week
NYFRS will be collaborating with partners to produce some live online seminars to support Safeguarding week this year. More details will be announced shortly but we are looking to further explore our work with airflow mattresses, partnership working and a deep dive into the Government report into fire related fatalities and serious injuries.
Information about Safeguarding week will be published on our website here.
Be Safe, Feel Safe booklets – Cost of living fire safety advice
As part of a collaboration with the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner we are happy to advertise that we have some physical copies of our Cost-Of-Living Fire Safety booklet available for FREE.
If you would like some copies, please email Prevention@northyorksfire.gov.uk and we can get some sent out for you or placed somewhere local ready to collect.
https://www.northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk/news/besafefeelsafeguidance/
Subscription to the newsletter
Our newsletter aims to provide useful information into trending fire risks and an insight into what we are doing to reduce the risk and prevent fires in York and North Yorkshire.
We are trying to promote this newsletter to gain a wider audience of professionals which will help us with our cause and can share our information. We would encourage you to share this newsletter with your colleagues and teams and if you know anyone that would like to subscribe to this newsletter then they can sign up to our distribution list here. If you would like to unsubscribe then please let us know by emailing Prevention@northyorksfire.gov.uk.
Coming next time
The fourth edition of our newsletter “Partnering in Fire Prevention” will be published in July 2023. It will include information taken from the Government report “A Review of Fire Related Fatalities and Severe Casualties” which identifies who is at most of risk of a fire and causation factors. There will also be articles about our prevention calendar themes which will be student fire safety and gas safety. Please contact us with suggestions about what else you would like to see included.
Contact us:
Prevention@northyorksfire.gov.uk or call 01609 78015
Share: