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Indiana Learn Not to Burn Program
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This program was one of seventeen programs recognized nationally by Allstate Insurance as a Regional Finalist in Community Safety Programs for the 1999 Allstate Safety Leadership Awards) Need: The Hoosier state is no different. A review of several data sources over a ten year period unfortunately supports this fatality pattern of residential fire deaths for children under age five in Indiana.
*motor vehicle traffic-occupant, motorcyclist, pedalcyclist, and pedestrian Source: Susan P. Baker, Lois A. Fingerhut, Laura Higgins, Li-Hui Chen, Elisa R. Braver, Injury to Children and Teenagers: State-by-State Mortality Facts. (The Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, 1996). ăLearn Not to Burn Preschool Program is a trademark of the National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA Table 2. Indiana Deaths and Rates per 100,000/Unintentional Fire/Flame, 1992-1996 1992
1994
1995
Source: Indiana Injury Mortality Statistics, Centers for Disease Control The impact of child residential fire deaths and injuries is also reflected in our nation's healthcare costs. National SAFE KIDS reports that the total annual cost nationally of fire-related burn deaths and injuries for children ages 14 and under is 5.5 billion dollars. Children ages 4 and under account for 3.3 billion dollars of these costs. Program Description:
Program overview Target audience for program Program's operating budget Program funding Number of participants served by the program Partnerships - other organizations involved in operating the program Program promotion The Community Education & Child Advocacy Department of the Riley Hospital for Children in partnership with the Indiana Office of the State Fire Marshal took steps to implement a long-term vision in 1995 to respond to the numbers of residential fire deaths in Indiana for preschool age children. The Learn Not to Burn curriculum program from the National Fire Protection Association for children from preschool through grade three was selected as the educational tool to introduce into Indiana classrooms. While the focus of this project description overviews the effort to introduce the Preschool Learn Not to Burn (PLNTB) Program in Indiana, the concurrent initiative to disseminate the elementary school level curriculums statewide also is recognized to illustrate the long-term and comprehensive vision of this project to continue to reach Indiana children beyond preschool at different grade levels with developmentally appropriate information on fire safety and prevention. A pilot presentation of the Learn Not to Burn program for elementary classrooms coordinated by Riley Hospital's Community Education & Child Advocacy Department in collaboration with the Office of the State Fire Marshal was conducted in 1995 in Frankfort, Indiana to set a model for delivery of the curriculum for K-3 classrooms across the state. The State Fire Marshall's Office proceeded to carry out in-services across the state and to distribute the elementary school level curriculums on an on-going basis from 1995 to date. In turn, Riley Hospital for Children committed to taking the lead to develop a model for delivery of the PLNTB program statewide. From 1996 to date, the primary goals of the Indiana PLNTB Program have been to: 1)create a base of child care providers across the state who have participated in a 2 hour orientation workshop to the PLNTB program and 2)create a base of "super trainers" from across the state who could conduct PLNTB orientation workshops in response to requests from area child care providers. Eight pilot workshops for the PLNTB Program were launched in 1996 to develop and test the model for delivery of the PLNTB orientation workshops. The target audience for this program are people who provide child care in a wide variety of settings, including Head Start, preschools, home based daycares, churches, and child care businesses. Both licensed and unlicensed child care providers have been targeted as program participants. Then, the Community Education & Child Advocacy Department of Riley Hospital for Children became a partner in the Healthy Child Care Indiana initiative, led by the Indiana Parent Information Network. This initiative is part of a national campaign, Healthy Child Care America, that has identified the child care setting as the primary site for reaching children and families with comprehensive and coordinated delivery of information and education on children's health, wellness, injury prevention, and disabilities. A federal grant award from Maternal and Child Health provided funding support to the Healthy Child Care Indiana project from 1997 through 1999. Specifically, annual funding for the PLNTB Program through this grant award was: 1997: $3,500; 1998: $3,000; and 1999: $4,000. Staff support for this project (Project Manager and Administrative Secretary) was provided through Riley Hospital for Children Community Education & Child Advocacy Department funding from Wal-Mart Associates and Sam's Club Partners and the Indiana District of Kiwanis International (1997: $10,000; 1998: $15,000; 1999: $10,000). In 1997, the Community Education & Child Advocacy Department trained an initial base of 65 "super trainers," child care providers from north, central, and southern parts of the state. In 1997, 1998, and 1999, additional orientation workshops were conducted by department staff as well as by "super trainers". PLNTB orientation workshops are promoted regularly through advance press releases to local papers and radio that include quotes either from the county Step Ahead Council or Child Care Resource and Referral Agency and the Chief of the local fire department attesting to the importance and need for this workshop in their community. Since the Indiana PLNTB program began in 1996, at least 600 child care providers have participated in the orientation workshops and 150 "super trainers" have now been trained to conduct the orientation workshops in their areas of the state. Measured Results:
Reduction of need (Provide statistics) Publicity received Other measures of success The Indiana PLNTB Program has achieved its program goals. To date, at least 600 child care providers across the state have participated in orientation workshops and received the PLNTB curriculum and cassette free of charge. The attached listing of trainings that have taken place since the initial 8 pilots in 1996 to the workshop series in 1999 provide a record of participation. In addition, attached samples of scantron forms that reflect participant evaluation comments at workshops provide another indicator of workshop success. In addition, 150 "super trainers" from across the state have participated in training workshops that have provided them with the tools and resources to be able to conduct PLNTB orientation workshops in the community. The names of the "super trainers" will be given to the Indiana Child Care Resource and Referral Agency (ICCRRA), which will serve as the primary source of contact for county child care resource and referral agencies. If a local child care provider wants to have a training on the PLNTB program, they contact ICCRRA for the trainer who is closest to their community. The "super trainer" list also will be shared with Step Ahead Councils, which are in every one of the 92 counties in Indiana, yet another network that brings child advocates and educators together for education and training. The workshops have generated newspaper and radio coverage in local communities. The most recent available statistics on fire deaths in Indiana are 1996, which do show an 18% decrease in deaths for preschool age children.
Source: Indiana Injury Mortality Statistics, Centers for Disease Control Growth Potential: The Indiana Learn Not to Burn Preschool Program will continue to be offered as a resource to child care providers in communities across the state through the system of delivery that has been set up over the past three years by the Community Education Department of Riley Hospital for Children. Host sites for PLNTB orientation workshops will be required to pay the super trainer ($25-$100 for a 2 hour training, depending upon availability of funds) and to supply the PLNTB curriculum materials, which directs the program toward using locally available training dollars through Step Ahead Councils and County Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. The Community Education & Child Advocacy Department of Riley Hospital for Children will maintain its presence in this project as a facilitator for linking local communities with super trainers and as a resource for new information and materials to not only super trainers but to child care providers receiving the training. Whenever a super trainer carries out a workshop, their only responsibility is making certain that the names and addresses of persons they have trained are forwarded to the Community Education & Child Advocacy Department of Riley Hospital where a comprehensive data base of all persons receiving the PLNTB curriculum through orientation workshops is maintained. The Community Education & Child Advocacy Department of Riley Hospital for Children also has recently received two grant awards that are helping to provide direction for the continued growth of this program. One grant award from the International Association of Firefighters is for 3 research projects, one of them being an evaluation of gains in knowledge by preschoolers participating in the PLNTB program. This study is underway and is providing new direction for super trainers to assist as a trainer and researcher. Twelve sites across the state will participate in this research study (4-northern Indiana; 4-central Indiana; and 4-southern Indiana). At each site, child care provider staff are trained to use the PLNTB program and children are interviewed prior to the beginning of the curriculum regarding their knowledge of fire safety and prevention. The curriculum is then presented, either over a 1 month or 3 month period and then post interviews with the children are conducted. The second grant award was received from the American Academy of Pediatrics for a regional child care initiative for the Healthy Child Care America campaign. This grant will assist the Community Education Department of Riley Hospital in carrying out regional interactive video broadcasts to child care providers in Indiana and 5 surrounding states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois) to introduce use of the RISK WATCH curriculum for Pre-K from the National Fire Protection Association. RISK WATCH is a comprehensive child injury prevention curriculum and opens up new directions for building on the past 3 years of work to introduce the PLNTB program to child care providers in Indiana so that other leading causes of injury to children under age 5 could be addressed through the child care setting. [Keywords: learn not to burn] |
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