San Antonio & Miami AAAs Join Hispanic Fire Safety Training Planarticle courtesy of In Touch n4a
Fire safety and fall prevention are the topics of a Train-the-Trainer program that the Bexar Area Agency on Aging in San Antonio has been hard at work on. Realizing that the lack of fire safety materials in Spanish leaves Hispanic seniors especially vulnerable, the AAA agreed to become one of three pilot sites that are developing a new approach to fire safety education for older Hispanics, their families, and the professionals who work with them.
With funding from Fireproof Children/Prevention First (an injury prevention center in New York) and the Miami-based International Association of Hispanic Firefighters (IAHF), the Bexar AAA will help deliver fire safety messages. It will use a fire safety video, "Mas Vale Prevenir" ("Its Better to Prevent"), developed by IAHF with a grant from FEMA. The video, along with take-home safety messages and free installation of smoke alarms with 10-year batteries, will be offered in three communities with large Hispanic populations - Miami, FL; San Antonio, TX; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The key partners are Bexar AAA for San Antonio, IAHF and the Dade County Fire Department for Miami, and the Puerto Rico Fire Department for San Juan. In addition, dozens of local community groups are involved in each area.
For example, in Miami, the Alliance for Aging, Inc., has been working closely with IAHF on the Hispanic fire prevention project. Alliance for Aging was involved in the Miami focus groups, and is now helping to evaluate the results and plan for the implementation of the Train-the-Trainer sessions that will take place later in the year, according to Vanessa Rodriguez, the Health and Wellness Coordinator at the AAA. "We realize the importance of fire safety and prevention for the Hispanic older adult population and are very happy to be involved in the development of this project," Rodriguez commented.
Training will involve fire and police departments, city code compliance officers, assisted living facilities, adult protective services, health and human services, school districts, and "basically anyone with any contact with families, especially multigenerational home settings where an elder is living," explained Nick Monreal, who is the Managing Local Ombudsman for Long Term Care Services at Bexar AAA. "The goal is not just educating the senior, but to educate the entire family."
Contact: Nick Monreal, Bexar AAA, Alamo Area Council of Governments, 210-362-5236, nmonreal@aacog.com; or Vanessa Rodriguez, Alliance for Aging, Inc., 305-670-6500, ext. 268, rodriguezv@elderaffairs.org.