Agencies to participate in fire, fall prevention seminar

The Carpentersville Fire Department and the Dundee Township Park District Senior Center have been awarded scholarships to participate in a training conference dedicated to "Remembering When: A Fire and Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults," developed by the National Fire Protection Association.

The awarded scholarships provide for travel expenses for two participants, Remembering When curriculum materials and all training.

The conference will be held Dec. 3-5, in Boston, Mass. NFPA has selected two-member teams from 41 communities across the country to participate. Teams are comprised of one fire department member partnered with an individual from an agency within the community that serves older adults through home visits, such as visiting nurses associations, home health care agencies, and places of worship.

"Adults, 65 years and older, are more than twice as likely to be killed in a home fire compared to the population at large, and falls are the leading cause of death from injuries in this group," said Sharon Gamache, NFPA's director of high-risk outreach programs. "This training offers strategies that participants can bring back to share with their communities to help prevent fires and falls among older adults that live there."

Arturo J. Carrillo of the Carpentersville Fire Department and Mary Stallings of the Dundee Township Park District Senior Center will travel to Boston for the workshop. After the workshop, the Carpentersville Fire Department will conduct a minimum of five group presentations and at least two train-the-trainer sessions for the Dundee Township Park District Senior Center.

The Dundee Township Park District Senior Center will integrate materials from the Remembering When program into its outreach through home visits.

NFPA is committed to helping communities reduce fire and fall injuries and deaths among older adults. The Remembering When program has been implemented in communities throughout North America since 1999, reaching thousands of older adults. For more information about Remembering When, visit nfpa.org/rememberingwhen.