Fire awareness training to help technicians identify potentially hazardous situations

Over the past few years, Medequip depots have been working closely with fire service prevention teams to provide awareness training to Medequip technicians visiting people’s homes, as well as sharing information on equipment with fire service officers so they can fully understand what equipment may be found in the home environment.

The objective is to provide technicians with the ability to recognise people who may be at risk and show how to refer them for a home safety fire visit. Alongside this is the drive to educate the fire service’s community safety officers about some of the challenges technicians face when delivering and installing equipment.

According to Medequip, one area where the potential for risk has been clearly identified is air flow mattresses. Typically, people using this equipment are bed bound, using emollient creams and ointments to protect their skin, which when absorbed into the bedding increases flammability. Add to this the dangers posed by smoking and the potential for a hazardous situation becomes obvious says Medequip.

Laura Hodgson, Partnerships Manager for North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, explained how the Fire service is cooperating with Medequip: “Our services are not just about emergencies and fighting fires – our work focuses increasingly on prevention.

“Investigating two fire fatalities relating to smoking and airflow mattresses, all the relevant services collaborated last year to identify what we could do to mitigate the risks.”

As a result, under controlled conditions, the fire service replicated a bedroom fire where the bedding on an airflow mattress had been contaminated by emollient creams and caught alight after a lit cigarette was dropped on it. The results were filmed for training purposes.

“This clearly demonstrates the need to achieve a balance between the need for these products and the risks they can pose,” Laura added. This video now forms the basis for regular training carried out in North Yorkshire for Medequip and fire service personnel.

Other Medequip depots have similar arrangements. The company also works closely with Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), where regular training sessions are conducted with the local fire prevention team covering risks in the home, providing technicians with information on how to refer people who may at risk for home safety fire visits.

This training has also been extended to prescribers in some areas, who could clearly see the value for healthcare professionals.

Detailed leaflets have been produced on reducing risks in the home, including a specialist leaflet co-produced by SFRS and Healthwatch and Suffolk commissioners outlining correct usage procedures for air flow mattresses. These leaflets are used by prescribers and given out to people using air flow mattresses and their carers.

For more information on the work carried out by fire prevention teams across the country visit Safe at home – North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service for information on emollient creams and air flow products, as well as a link to refer for a home safety fire visit.

Closomat has announced that it will deliver its Bathroom Adaptations Technical Training Tour 2024 this autumn in a set of four free training events centered on the design, development, and manufacture of accessible showering and bathroom products.