Lacey Fire offers free safety inspections for senior citizens. Here’s how to book yours
The Lacey Fire District 3 responded to 2,300 calls to help fall victims in 2019, and now the department is ready to do something about it.
In September, Lacey Fire District 3 launched the SeniorSafe@Home program, a free fire and fall prevention program for senior citizens living in their own homes.
“The notion of the program is to mitigate fall risks and fire hazards for independently living seniors within our fire district,” said Christine DeBell, Lacey Fire District 3 community outreach coordinator. “So we designed a program with those elements in mind. And our goal is to provide outreach to as many seniors as possible to mitigate those risks.”
Since the program started, the department has conducted 16 in-house surveys.
Senior citizens can contact the fire department by calling 360-491-2410 or emailing info@laceyfire.com to make an appointment.
From there, the department will send out a team to conduct a free home safety survey to identify any potential fire or fall hazards both inside and outside the house. If a hazard is found, the department will either provide products or services or refer the homeowner to Lacey Sunrise Lions to remedy the situation.
Some falling hazards that the department looks for are trippable hazards such as rugs, and general house clutter. They also want to ensure residents have slip-free bathroom mats.
“We’ll also look for handheld grab bars in their bathroom area,” DeBell said. “Especially if they need those, and on stairways like entryways in and out of the home.”
Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury and nonfatal hospital admissions for seniors, according to the department, and 60% of fatal falls occur within the home. The department’s research also says that two-thirds of seniors who experience a fall will fall again within six months.
The in-house survey team will also identify potential fire hazards, and will check to see if the house has working house alarms and fire extinguishers in the kitchen.
“We do education on egress, so two ways out of a sleeping area or bedroom. We’ll do education on that,” DeBell said. “And then other things like if they have space heaters, making sure that they’re positioned in a place where they’re not close to flammables.”
Those over the age of 65 are 2.5 times more likely to die from a kitchen fire, the department says, with mobility, vision and hearing impairments the leading causes for that increased risk.
“We do expect that by the fall of 2022, and a year after implementing this program, the efforts of conducting home assessments will show decline in calls for fall or fire related emergencies,” DeBell said.
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 2:11 PM.
