Pennsylvania Fire and Life Safety Education Survey

Form Approved

OMB No. __0920-XXX__

Exp. Date _xx/xx/20xx_

Fire and Life Safety Education in Pennsylvania Fire Departments

Study ID # _______

This survey asks about your department’s fire and life safety education (FLSE).

FLSE is defined as community fire and injury prevention programs and activities designed to eliminate or reduce situations that endanger lives, health, property, or the environment.

DIRECTIONS: Check the correct answer or write in your answer, as requested.

SECTION I: The purpose of this section is to describe you and your fire department.

1. How long have you been the fire chief here?

Number of years: _______

2. How long have you been in the fire service?

Number of years: _______

3. What is your department’s overall annual operating budget (including both personnel and non-personnel)?

Budget:$ _________________

4. What percentage of this budget is devoted to FLSE (including both personnel and non-personnel)?

Percent budget: ______ %

5. Do you have any other sources of financial support for your FLSE (ex: grants or donations)?

____No ____Yes

6. Do personnel in your department conduct FLSE activities? Personnel = all paid and/or volunteer staff.	____No  Go to Question 27 ____Yes  Answer 6A below
A. Who conducts FLSE activities? Check all that apply.
_____Uniformed personnel assigned exclusively to FLSE _____Non-uniformed personnel assigned exclusively to FLSE _____Uniformed personnel assigned to both FLSE and other responsibilities _____Non-uniformed personnel assigned to both FLSE and other responsibilities _____Fire Corps _____Volunteers _____Other, Specify: _____________________________________________________

7. On average, what is the total number of hours of FLSE per week conducted by your department?
____Less than 5 hours ____Between 5-9 hours ____Between 10-19 hours ____Between 20-29 hours		_____Between 30-39 hours _____Between 40-49 hours _____50 hours or more

8. How familiar are you with NFPA 1035: Standard for Professional Qualifications for Public Fire and Life Safety Educator job performance requirements?

_____Never heard of it/don’t know _____Heard of it, do not know details _____Somewhat familiar _____Very familiar

9. Does your department require general training in FLSE for all new department recruits (not just FLSE personnel)?

_____No _____Yes

10. Does your department require specialized training for any personnel whose primary responsibility is FLSE?	_____No  Answer 10A below _____Yes  Answer 10B below
Why is training not required? Check all that apply.	_____No FLSE educators in department _____Not a priority _____No funds available _____No training programs available _____Other, Specify: ___________________
B. Who conducts this training? Check all that apply.	_____National Fire Academy, on/off campus _____State agencies or organizations _____Your department _____Other, Specify: ___________________

11. Does your department require certification for any personnel whose primary responsibility is FLSE?	____No  Answer 11A below ____Yes  Answer 11B below
Why is certification not required? Check all that apply.	_____No FLSE educators in department _____Not a priority _____No funds available _____Other, Specify: ___________________
What certification is required? Check all that apply.	_____NFPA 1035 _____Child passenger safety training _____Other, Specify: ___________________

12. How is FLSE positioned in your department?

_____Not important part of department activity _____Supplementary to other department activity _____Important part of department activity _____Critical part of department activity

SECTION II: The purpose of this section is to understand the range of Fire and Life

Safety Education (FLSE) activities offered by your department.

13. What FLSE activities does your department participate in or provide? Check all that apply.
_____Elementary school presentations _____Middle or junior high school presentations _____High school presentations _____College/university presentations _____Older adult presentations _____Risk Watch® _____Learn Not to Burn® _____Parent-Teacher Association presentations _____Juvenile firesetting programs _____General health and/or safety fairs		_____Home safety inspections _____Workplace safety inspections _____Fire Prevention Week/Fire Safety Month events _____Babysitter preparation training _____Child passenger safety seat checks/installs _____Neighborhood canvassing or sweeps to promote smoke alarms _____Other smoke alarm programs (maintenance, installation, response to requests) _____Other, Specify: ________________________

14A. About how many FLSE activities does your department do in a typical year? (Please write in an actual number, not a range.)	Number:_________ per year
14B. About how many people does your department reach with your FLSE activities in a typical year? (Please write in an actual number, not a range.)	Number:_________ per year
14C. About what percentage of FLSE activities are: In response to requests (from individuals or groups within your community)?. . . . . . . . . . . The result of your fire department’s outreach?.	______% per year ______% per year

15. What is the focus or content of your FLSE activities? Of the time your department spends on FLSE, what percentage is spent on each topic? Check all that apply.
a. Fire prevention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b. Burn prevention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c. Fire escape planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d. Carbon monoxide detectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e. Fire extinguishers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f. First aid or CPR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . g. Smoke alarms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . h. Home fire sprinkler systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i. Juvenile firesetting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . j. Disaster preparedness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . k. Public health emergencies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l. Technology issues (ex: interconnected alarms). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m .Other, Specify: ___________________________		Focus? Percent of time? _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

16. Does your department provide FLSE activities that target any of the following specific high- or special-risk audiences?			_____No  Go to Question 17 _____Yes  Answer 16A below
A. Which high- or special-risk audiences do you target? Check all that apply.
_____Children under the age of 5 _____College/university student housing _____Older people _____People with disabilities		_____People living in poverty _____People with low literacy skills _____People for whom English is a second language _____Other, Specify: _________________________

17. Does your department partner with any of the following community groups to support, deliver or promote FLSE?			_____No  Go to Question 18 _____Yes  Answer 17A below
A. Who do you partner with? Check all that apply.
_____Schools/classroom teachers _____Hospitals and/or burn units _____Public health departments _____Health and safety researchers _____Faith-based leaders _____Businesses/employers _____Senior centers		_____Police departments _____Civic organizations (ex: Kiwanis, Rotary) _____Community coalitions (ex: Safe Kids, Injury Free) _____Public housing authority/apartment managers _____Community agencies (ex: Red Cross, AHA, ALA) _____Youth groups (ex: Scouts, Boys & Girls Clubs) _____Other, Specify: ____________________________

18. Does your department develop or distribute educational materials (ex: brochures, videos, flyers, posters)? Check all that apply.	_____No  Go to Question 19 _____Yes, We distribute others’ materials  Answer 18A below _____Yes, We create/distribute our own materials  Answer 18A below
A. About how many materials do you distribute?	Number:_____ per year

19. For each of the following safety products, please tell us if your department distributes and/or installs them and about how many your department distribute and/or installs per year. Check all that apply. Distribute # Install #

a. Lithium battery smoke alarms....................................................... b. Conventional smoke alarms.......................................................... c. 9-volt batteries (replacement batteries)......................................... d. Smoke alarms for deaf/hard-of-hearing........................................ e. Carbon monoxide detectors........................................................... f. Fire escape ladders......................................................................... g. Fire extinguishers.......................................................................... h. Car safety seats or booster seats.................................................... i. Bicycle helmets.............................................................................. j. Other, Specify:_______________________________________

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

20. Does your department charge a fee for any of your FLSE activities, educational materials, or products? Check all that apply.

_____No _____Yes, for activities _____Yes, for materials _____Yes, for products

21. How does your department work with the news media (including newspapers, television, and radio)? Check all that apply.

_____We do not work with the media

_____We have a public information officer (PIO) who handles media contacts

_____Fire personnel, other than a PIO, work with the news media

_____We conduct media campaigns on FLSE

_____We partner with other groups to conduct media campaigns

22. Does your department promote fire-related laws, ordinances, or regulations by testifying, presenting information to legislators, working with coalitions, or in any other ways? Check all that apply.

_____No  Go to Question 24 _____Yes, at the local level _____Yes, at the state level _____Yes, at the national level

23. What topics does your department promote? Check all that apply.
_____Smoke alarms _____Home fire sprinkler systems _____Fire sprinklers for non-residential settings _____Building or fire code provisions _____Carbon monoxide detectors _____Fire safe cigarettes		_____Children’s sleepwear _____Primary seat belt laws _____Bicycle or motorcycle helmet laws _____Fireworks _____Child passenger safety seats _____Other, Specify: ________________________

24. Does your department evaluate your FLSE activities in any of the following ways?			_____No  Go to Question 25 _____Yes  Answer 24A below
A. How do you evaluate your FLSE activities? Check all that apply.
_____Debriefing after FLSE activities _____Informal feedback from participants _____Pre-/post-tests of participants _____Public opinion surveys _____Home safety observations		_____Injury/loss statistics _____Tracking number of participants or activities _____Tracking number of materials or products _____Other, Specify: _______________________

25. Overall, how satisfied are you with the FLSE conducted by your department? (Place an “X” anywhere on the line that best represents your satisfaction; 0 = very dissatisfied and 100 = very satisfied.)

___________________________________________________________________________

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

26. How does your department use local or state fire incident data for your FLSE activities? Check all that apply.

_____We do not currently use it _____We use it to identify neighborhoods at high-risk _____We use it to identify people/groups at high-risk _____We use it to plan programs and outreach _____We use it for evaluation purposes _____We use it for public presentations _____Other, Specify: __________________________

27. Does your department participate in the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS)?

_____No _____Yes

SECTION III: The purpose of this last section is to find out what would make it easier for your

department to conduct Fire and Life Safety Education (FLSE).

28. Please tell us how helpful each of the following would be to your department.

Not at All Very Helpful Helpful

a. Information about funding FLSE activities..................................................... b. Continuing education for FLSE programs and policies.............................. c. Directory of “best practice” FLSE programs and policies.............................. d. Free community educational materials........................................................... e. Free safety products to distribute.................................................................... f. Partnerships with national health and safety organizations............................. g. Partnerships with local or state public health departments............................. h. Information about NFPA 1035 requirements for FLSE.................................. i. Website for FLSE ideas, model programs, evaluation ideas, etc............................. j. Listserv (email communication program to discuss FLSE ideas with other depts).... k. Access to experts on implementing proven educational programs................. l. Access to experts on program evaluation......................................................... m. Access to experts on new fire safety technologies......................................... n. Other, Specify:_______________________________________________

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29. Below is a list of possible barriers to conducting FLSE identified by other fire departments. Please tell us how much of a barrier each would be for your department.

Not a Significant Barrier Barrier

a. No FLSE specialist in my department............................................................ b. Not enough FLSE personnel in my department.............................................. c. Not enough training/expertise among FLSE personnel.................................. d. Not enough known about FLSE programs that work..................................... e. Lack of mandate to do FLSE.......................................................................... f. Lack of time to do FLSE................................................................................. g. Little commitment to FLSE by department superiors.................................... h. Little commitment to FLSE by department personnel................................... i. Not enough funding for FLSE......................................................................... j. Lack of recognition for doing FLSE................................................................ k. Too many competing priorities in the department.......................................... l. Other, Specify:________________________________________________

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30. How interested are you in FLSE training for your department?

_____Not interested _____Somewhat interested _____Very interested

31. Please write in the three FLSE topics for training that are of most interest to your department.

1________________________________________________________________________________________

2________________________________________________________________________________________

3________________________________________________________________________________________

32. Please tell us how desirable each training format would be for your department.

Not Very Desirable Desirable

a. Printed materials (ex: curricula, books, articles).......................................... b. In-person presentation by FLSE expert........................................................ c. Workshop at your department...................................................................... d. Video, CD or DVD...................................................................................... e. Internet course.............................................................................................. f. National Fire Academy course, on campus.................................................. g. National Fire Academy course, off campus................................................. h. National training conference with networking opportunities...................... i. State or local training conference with networking opportunities................ j. Other, Specify:_______________________________________________

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33. Would your department be able to pay for any of these types of training?

_____No _____Not sure _____Yes

34. Please describe any additional prevention activities that your department does.

35. In completing this survey, did you	_____Complete it by yourselfGo to Question 35 _____Complete it with input from anotherAnswer 34A _____Ask someone else to complete it Answer 34A
A. Please write in that person’s job title:	____________________________________________

Thank you for completing this survey!

Using the stamped envelope provided, please return to:

Jennifer Piver-Renna, JH Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Room 531, Baltimore, MD, 21205

• or – fax to (410) 614-2797.

You may also request an electronic copy of the survey from [email protected]

© Johns Hopkins University

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