Cheshire firefighters keep older people safe

Cheshire firefighters and community safety teams are joining forces with health colleagues across the county to kick-start work to protect older people from fire this winter and support the health sector to reduce excess winter deaths.

During UK Home Safety Week from 28th September, and to celebrate Older People's Day on 1st October, fire safety officers will attend a number of events to help pensioners to reduce the risks of fire in their homes. Switching off electrical items, kitchen safety and planning escape routes is just some of the advice on offer, and free stick pointers will be available so that people can easily check their smoke detectors are working.

Other information relating to health and wellbeing, community safety and getting online will also be covered at many of the events and various activities such as dancing and afternoon tea are also being planned.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service's flagship approach to home safety has played a key role in helping to reduce preventable fire deaths and injuries over the past decade and involves combining fire safety checks with assisting residents to access appropriate support from other agencies such as Age UK.

Cheshire's Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Chair of CFOA's Home Safety Committee Mark Cashin said: "We engage with older people every day to help them remain safe and independent and these events are a great opportunity to talk to people. In partnership with health colleagues we are also expanding our fire safety visits to include a number of interventions designed to help older people stay well during the winter period. Making sure that people are able to get the support they need from other organisations also helps to relieve pressure on the NHS."

Almost half of all fire deaths in the UK involve people over the age of 60 and by the time someone reaches 80 they are 10 times more likely to die in a fire than someone under 30. In common with other European countries, more people in the United Kingdom die in the winter than in the summer. The majority of deaths occur among those aged 75 and over; there were 14,000 excess winter deaths in this age group in 2013/14 compared with 4,000 in people aged under 75 years of age.

Mark Cashin added: "We have worked with partners across the health and social care sector for some time to target vulnerable people and help to prevent fires in their home. In 2014 alone, the service undertook 27,206 home fire safety checks, 82% of which were to people aged over 65, representing the highest percentage in the country."

More information on home safety, including events taking place and an online home safety risk assessment can be found at www.cheshirefire.gov.uk.

Older People's Day 2015 is a national event being marked by a range of organisations who want to celebrate the contribution older people make to society and coincides with the United Nations International Day of Older Persons. For further information visit www.olderpeoplesday.co.uk

Cheshire's Fire Safety Officers will be at the following events engaging with the public and delivering home fire safety messages:
Cheshire East:

• Tuesday 29 September from 9:30 to 16:00 Health Forum Event, Church View Medical Centre, Nantwich.
• Wednesday 30 September from 11:30 to 15:00 East Cheshire Health Fair, Macclesfield Town Hall.
• Thursday 1 October 12:30 to 16:30- Senior Health & Well-being Fair, New Life Church, Congleton. 14:00-16:00- South Cheshire Pensioners Association 'Older Persons Day', Crewe Alexandra FC.

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