The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has produced a new version of Remembering When™:  A Fire and Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults. Program materials, available for download at no cost, are widely used by fire departments and other safety educators interested in reaching older adults with fire and fall prevention messages developed especially for them. The revised program includes updated fire and fall statistics, safety messaging, trivia, art work, and inclusion of “younger” older adults.

Since 1999, Remembering When has been implemented in communities throughout North America to help thousands of older adults learn strategies to help them live safely at home for as long as possible.

The program’s foundation remains the same:  the 16 key safety messages–eight fire prevention and eight fall prevention–developed by experts from national and local safety organizations and focus group testing in high fire-risk states. The program will continue to be implemented through group presentations, home visits, and as part of smoke alarm installation and fall intervention programs. All of the revised training materials are available online.

“Over the next decades, the population of older adults will increase dramatically,” said Karen Berard-Reed, senior project manager for NFPA. “The new version targets adults who are just entering their older years. We hope to encourage these ‘younger’ older adults to develop important safety habits that will carry them through their senior years and help those around them develop safer behaviors.”

Representatives of fire departments and home visit agencies across the United States and Canada that have been chosen to participate in the Remembering When conference December 1-3, 2013 in Boston, will be the first trained with updated materials.

“Training is available for fire and life safety educators at the annual NFPA Remembering When Conference and at a variety of state and regional venues,” added Berard-Reed. “However, you do not have to attend a training to use the program. Tools, along with support materials to assist instructors, are readily available onlineto be downloaded at no cost.”

About the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
NFPA is a worldwide leader in fire, electrical, building, and life safety. The mission of the international nonprofit organization founded in 1896 is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. NFPA develops more than 300 codes and standards to minimize the possibility and effects of fire and other hazards. All NFPA codes and standards can be viewed at no cost at www.nfpa.org/freeaccess.