Tagged / Fire

Emergency services experts (UK)

Emergency services experts are being sought to share their expertise and research or act as a Committee specialist adviser.

A Parliamentary Committee is preparing for a piece of work on the challenges emergency services in the UK face, and whether greater collaboration within and between emergency response services could present solutions and provide services that are better for the user. The Committee’s secretariat is looking for researchers with expertise in this area, including people working on individual services, and anyone studying different models of how emergency and/or blue-light responders collaborate.

Researchers can feed into the work by:

* submitting written evidence,

* giving oral evidence, or

* working as a specialist adviser for the Committee.

For the specialist adviser role, the team are looking specifically for people with expertise covering multiple emergency services. The specialist adviser role would be completed alongside your BU duties one day per week and is paid (not voluntary).

Complete this short Microsoft form with your details to express interest in supplying your research evidence to inform the Committee’s work or to work as the specialist adviser.

The form will ask for your personal details and for you to:

  •      Outline your expertise (max. 100 words)
  •      Provide a link to your BU profile
  •      If possible, to provide a link to a video or recording of you speaking publicly

Some more information on the Specialist Adviser role:

The deadline is Thursday 1 September 2022 (to express interest in providing evidence or applying for the specialist adviser role). After 1 September, once the Committee begins its work, there will be more opportunities to submit written evidence and / or express an interest in giving oral evidence through the Committee’s webpages.

Contact Sarah in BU’s policy team for more information or support.

Reminder: BUDI lunch time research seminar open to all BU staff and students

student research

You are cordially invited to a BUDI research seminar which is open to all students and staff.
Please feel free to bring your lunch.

 

“Fire safety in the home: local lessons – global reach”

By Dr Michelle Heward

 Tuesday 8 March 2016

13.00 – 13.50pm

EB202, Executive Business Centre

 

Abstract
Objectives: Impairment, disability and dementia are substantial factors in increasing the risk of injury or death from fire in the home. There is, therefore, a concern that the number of people with dementia injured or dying in fires in the home will increase, in relation to the rising number of people living with dementia internationally.

Methods: Mixed methods study. Online survey sent to all Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in the United Kingdom (UK) (n=55) to establish provision of guidance and resources for people affected by dementia.  Four focus groups: fire service professionals; other professionals; and two with people with dementia and family carers in UK (South West). Explored experiences of home safety risks (including fire risks) and risk reduction strategies, alongside ideas for project outputs such as resources.

Findings: 20 FRSs responded to the survey giving a response rate of 36.4%. A descriptive analysis showed that the provision of guidance and resources for people affected by dementia varies widely across the UK, with few providing dementia-specific information leaflets and resources. During the focus groups, people affected by dementia identified different fire risks and risk reduction strategies to those outlined by professionals. However, a need to understand each person and their individual situation came across in each of the focus groups. This was considered a vital part in determining the individual risks within each home environment. Participants also felt that a range of resources that reflect individual needs would be a useful prevention strategy.

Conclusions: For communities to be truly dementia-friendly there is a need to ensure equity in how services respond to the needs of people affected by dementia. Dementia-specific guidance and resources developed as an output from this project could be shared nationally and internationally to address potential consequences of fire safety inequality in the home. However, there remains a need for cross disciplinary working across all sectors to enable people with dementia and their families, practitioners, policy makers, and the general public to understand and contribute towards effective dementia-friendly communities. This case study of fire safety in the home demonstrates the potential impact of local level studies to improving quality of life of people affected by dementia across the globe.

 

We hope you can join us.