CRR Radio

CRR Week 2022 is celebrating its third anniversary, and it is growing each year. To start us off, Chris Brunette, who is the lead for CRR Week, will give us an overview of what we can expect from the CRR Week team and what resources we are pulling together for people across the country to use. Be sure to check us out at www.crrweek.org and tell us what YOU are doing at info@crrweek.org!

Every community is diverse, and because of this, no "one size fits all" message - or strategy - will work when doing community risk reduction. So what can you do to tailor your outreach? In this episode we talk with Emily Braucher from Refresh Communications, and an instructor at the National Fire Academy in Cultural Competency, about what you can do to make your messaging have more impact.  One of the resources that Emily mentioned in our conversation.... https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/

Social media is everywhere, but just because you are using it...are you really engaging with your audience, is your message rising above the noise? In this episode of CRR Radio we talk with Kim Spuhler from South Metro Fire Rescue in Colorado about how you can help your messages "stick" with your audience. This is one of a continuing series of podcasts from Vision 20/20 that is being released for CRR Week 2022.

Getting support for your CRR efforts from policy makers and legislators is vitally important for long-term, sustainable programs. It's something that people in the fire service might not be used to doing, advocating for legislative and policy support. In this episode we talk with Samantha Louderback about some quick tips on how you can effectively advocate for your programs, no matter what level you are working at - local, county, state or federal. This is one of a continuing series of podcasts that Vision 20/20 is releasing for CRR Week 2022.

What we strive for in doing CRR is Behavioral Change, that is our end goal - always. If people's behavior doesn't change, what good is our messaging? In this episode we talk with Dr. Ellie Kazemi, a behavioral scientist at California State University Northridge about some ideas that you can incorporate into your education and outreach. This is one of a continuing series of podcasts that Vision 20/20 is releasing for CRR Week 2022.

Reaching out and engaging your audience with CRR messages is always a challenge, how do you rise above the noise? Using video in your messaging can be an easy and inexpensive way to do this. And today, it is easier than ever to do. Chuck Altvater, Professional Development Chief with the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control tells us how they have been using it and the impact it has had. This is one of a series of podcasts that Vision 20/20 is releasing for CRR Week 2022.

In this special edition of CRR Radio we talk with Section Chief Chris Brunette from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control who will be the new Vision 20/20 Strategy 1 Leader. One of the first activities that Brunette will be working on is CRR Week (www.crrweek.org). CRR Week started in 2019 as an ad-hoc, informal program, to raise the awareness about CRR among the members of the fire service. However, it has grown tremendously since its humble beginnings and, to help it grow and be sustainable, it has moved under the Vision 20/20 umbrella. Learn more about Vision 20/20 and Community Risk Reduction at www.StrategicFire.org. 

As wildland fires explode across the western United States and Canada, CRR Radio talked with Battalion Chief/Fire Marshal Kathy Clay with Jackson Hole Fire and EMS in Wyoming and Deputy Chief Dustin Tetrault of the Big Sky Fire Department in Montana about how CRR can play a role in helping to mitigate these horrific fires and the loss of life and property that follows. You can learn more about Vision 20/20 and CRR at https://www.StrategicFire.org.   

Failure's Classroom. Sometimes (many times?) we learn as much, if not more, from what didn't work as much as what did work. In this occasional series of conversations from CRR Radio we will be talking with people about something that they tried, with the highest hopes but, well...just didn't work out as expected. Joining us for the first show is Mike Weller, CRR Curriculum Manager with the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. You can learn more about Vision 20/20 and Community Risk Reduction at www.StrategicFire.org.

 In this episode of CRR Radio we speak with EMS Coordinator and Registered Nurse Dana Cardenas from the Tempe, Arizona, Fire Medical Rescue Department about how they are using data to reduce the number of 911 calls from frequent users. As with all departments, EMS calls make up a majority of TFD's runs, and there are a small group of people that are frequent users, or callers. Using predictive analytics to identify them, and developing an intervention program to help these people get the proper care they need, TFD is able to not only reduce their call call volume but provide this subset with better, more focused care. Click here to learn more about Vision 20/20. Download the Transcript Be sure to check out the free resources available from Vision 20/20, including: Guide to Community Risk Assessment Community Risk Reduction Planning Outcomes Measure Guide A State Guide to Supporting Community Risk Reduction Programs A Guide to Home Safety Visits Subscribe to CRR Radio in Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Overcast or wherever you get your podcasts to get each episode downloaded automatically.

In this episode of CRR Radio we are talking with Anne Arundel County Fire Department Chief Trisha Wolford. Chief Wolford was a part of the multi-disciplinary team that wrote this paper that takes a long-term look at where the fire and emergency services needs to go to maintain its relevance and importance in providing protection to the community. You can learn more and download the paper at https://www.cpse.org/projects/21st-century/.

The CPSE's 10th edition of the Quailty Improvement for the Fire And Emergency Services document, which is used by fire departments across the globe in their accreditation process, has a strong emphasis on Community Risk Assessment. In this episode of CRR Radio we speak with Division Chief Matt Knott who was closely involved in writing this part of the document.

In this episode we talk with cardiologist Dr. Seth Martin from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine about the role of preventive cardiac health as a CRR issue. The leading cause of deaths across the nation, by far, is cardiovascular disease (CVD), killing over 600,000 people each year-200 for every fire death. When conducting a Community Risk Assessment for any community, CVD will rank right up there at the top. We talk about some strategies that you can do to help change this in your community.

In this episode of CRR Radio from Vision 20/20, we talk with Monica Colby who is heading up the Call for Presentations for the seventh Model Performance in Community Risk Reduction that will be opening on January 12, 2021. Monica fills us in on how the process will be run, the evaluation rubric that will be used (and is available), the new coaching system that is available and about the "Minnow Tank" that will be happening at S7. Thinking of submitting? This podcast is for you! https://www.strategicfire.org/s7

Learn more about the Vision 20/20 Statewide Collaboration and Engagement Framework (www.strategicfire.org/SCEF. To build a national coalition of states engaged in adopting and implementing best practices in Community Risk Reduction using inclusive and diverse teams to achieve measurable and sustainable results in building safe, healthy and resilient communities.

In this podcast we talk with Battalion Chief of Community Medicine Joe Casciotti from the Harris County Emergency Services District #48 in Texas about their Mobile Integrated Health/Community Paramedicine program that addresses the issues around Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). CVD is the leading cause of death across the nation, and Harris County, in partnership with the hospital system, has developed a system for following up with heart attack victims to reduce re-admissions through home safety visits - with remarkable results. Readmission rates dropped from 12% to 4%, a significant decrease.  CVD is the leading cause of death in America, killing 600,000 people per year. To put this in context, 200 times more people die from CVD than from fires, which kill 3,000 people every year. CVD is a CRR issue...not every community has had a fatal fire, but every community has lost members to CVD. Listen to what Joe has to say and learn what you can do in your community!

In this episode we talk with three CRR experts from across the nation about what is the future of CRR after COVID-19. Our guests include Section Chief Josh Fulbright, South Carolina State Fire Marshal's Office; Assistant Chief Rich Palmer, Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office and Deputy Chief Joe Powers, Charlottesville (VA) Fire Department.

In the sixth episode of the special series of CRR Radio focusing on the COVID-19 Pandemic, we are looking at how to craft effective messages for the public using the tenets of behavioral science. To learn more, we talked with Dr. Ellie Kazemi, a behavioral scientist with California State University Northridge and Maggie Lawrence, a marketing behavioral specialist with Marketing For Change.

In the fifth episode of the special series by CRR Radio focusing on the COVID-19 Pandemic, we have a conversation with Chief Andrew Baxter and Deputy Chief Joe Powers about planning for coming out of the pandemic by developing a collaborative plan with all of the city departments.

In the fourth episode of the special series by CRR Radio focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, we speak with Chief Fire Officer Phil Loach from the West Midlands Fire Service in the UK and Tomasz Zwęgliński from the Main School of Fire Service in Warsaw, Poland, about what is being done to plan, prepare and respond to the pandemic. You can hear more at www.StrategicFire.org/CRRradio#covid19

In the third episode of the special series by CRR Radio focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, we speak with Chief Tom Jenkins from the Rogers, Arkansas Fire Department; Captain Mike Sedlacek, Madison, Alabama Fire Department; and Chief Nate Trauernicht, UC Davis Fire Department, about what their departments are doing to plan, prepare and respond to the pandemic.

In the second episode of the special series by CRR Radio focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, we speak with retired Country Fire Authority Chief Neil Bibby in Australia; Poudre Fire Authority Chief Tom DeMint in Fort Collins, Colorado and Firefighter Corey Lewis with the Richmond (KY) Fire Department about what their departments are doing to plan, prepare and respond to the pandemic.

CRR Radio is launching a series of conversations with fire service personnel around the globe, talking about what they are doing in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we know, Washington state was the epicenter in the start of the pandemic, and in this episode we talk with Assistant Chief Rich Llewellyn from the Everett, Washington, Fire Department, about the what they are doing and the lessons learned.

In this episode of Short Takes we talk with Daniel Chacon from the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation about the program he'll be presenting on at The Vision 20/20 Model Performance in CRR Symposium. You can learn more and register at www.StrategicFire.org/symposium6 The BeSafe Tool is a procedure based in behavioral science that can be applied to any CRR training program to measure behavioral change in the intended audience. Having an evidence-based tool, such as BeSafe, provides the educator with the ability to not only evaluate and improve training, but also a metric that can be used in providing data on outcomes for your Community Risk Reduction program.

In this episode of Short Takes we talk with Joseph Casciotti from Harris County, Texas, about the program he'll be presenting on at The Vision 20/20 Model Performance in CRR Symposium. You can learn more and register at www.StrategicFire.org/symposium6 The Harris County program utilizes the Mobile Integrated Health/Community Paramedicine program to conduct patient follow up to reduce re-admission rates in patients discharged from acute care hospitals with a diagnosis of STEMI/NSTEMI. Patients were managed on a voluntary outpatient basis to ensure medications were taken as prescribed, discharge instructions were followed, and followup with physicians and cardiac rehab were conducted as ordered by the physician. Patients approached but refusing participation had a 12% readmission rate to the hospital within 30 days of discharge while those agreeing to participate in the program had a 4% readmission rate. The participants not readmitted continued to remain out of the hospital months later.

In this episode of Short Takes we talk with Katie Harrington from Worcester, MA about her program she'll be presenting on at The Vision 20/20 Model Performance in CRR Symposium. You can learn more and register at www.StrategicFire.org/symposium6 ​Approximately 80 city employees, hospitals, and human service non-profit members originally assembled to create Worcester’s Hub-Cor, a collaborative project to address the needs of the underserved members of our community that have an impact on our service delivery. Hub-Cor is now a meeting of now 22 organizations and an additional 9 in the background that meets weekly to address individuals or families suffering mental illness, homelessness, domestic violence, child/elder abuse or neglect and any other acute elevated risk that may plague the city. The group develops systematic, analytical, and economical safety plan and proposes a means to reduce risk that can be quickly implemented with positive results.

In this episode of Short Takes we talk with Paulette Church from Colorado about her program she'll be presenting on at The Vision 20/20 Model Performance in CRR Symposium. You can learn more and register at www.StrategicFire.org/symposium6 Falls Creek, located in Durango, Colorado, is a nationally recognized Firewise USA® site, focusing attention on the “Home Ignition Zone.” In 2018 the community was impacted by the 416 Fire, one of the largest wildfires in Colorado history. The wildfire mitigation actions residents took prior to the fire, working closely with their local fire department, was credited with the survival of every structure in the community with no injuries to emergency responders or residents.

In this episode of Short Takes we talk with Kim Stouse from the Pocatello Fire Department about her presentation at the upcoming Vision 20/20 Project Model Performance in CRR Symposium on February 17-20. You can learn more and register at www.StrategicFire.org/Symposium6 Pocatello Fire Department/Bannock County Ambulance recognized a significant increase in calls to assisted living facilities which accounted for over 11% of emergency medical calls. Representatives from the assisted living facilities, emergency response organizations, and state officials formed a committee and wrote protocols for calling 911 versus utilizing facility staff. These protocols were adopted by all of the local assisted living facilities. As of March of 2019, calls to assisted living facilities have declined by approximately 50% from the highest year and now represent 4.5% of total medical calls for service.

In this episode of Short Takes we talk with Mike Sedlacek from the Madison (AL) Fire and Rescue Department about his presentation at the upcoming Vision 20/20 Project Model Performance in CRR Symposium on February 17-20. You can learn more and register at www.StrategicFire.org/Symposium6 In 2018 Madison Fire & Rescue created a Virtual Reality fire education program aimed at educating children about fire risks. We focused on 4th and 5th graders and created a multi-pronged approach program with two VR scenarios and a trailer with iPad kiosks. We partnered with multiple local companies and organizations in developing the program and developed technology solutions that did not exist. Our program includes detailed data reporting and we have seen positive trends in baseline data and knowledge trends.

In this episode of Short Takes we talk with Will Broscious from the Columbia-Richland Fire and Rescue Department about his presentation at the upcoming Vision 20/20 Project Model Performance in CRR Symposium on February 17-20. You can learn more and register at www.StrategicFire.org/Symposium6 ​Our program is designed to recruit volunteers by taking a different approach. As opposed to simply recruiting volunteers, we began to change our strategy in mid-2018 with a goal to recruit volunteers that can assist our department in various ways. This new approach has led to an increase in our CRR abilities including the successful completion of our first community risk assessment conducted by a local college student that was recruited to join our department as well as an increase in the number of volunteer fire fighters.

In this podcast we talk with Captain Mike Sedlacek from the Madison, Alabama, Fire Department where they built a cutting-edge education trailer that uses iPads and virtual reality to teach fire safety to children in the community. These tools provide the fire department with an incredible amount of data that allows it to fine-tune its educational delivery program. The next step? The same idea, but for severe weather. Truly, #CRRinAction!

Are you thinking of submitting a presentation for the Model Performance in CRR Symposium 6? Then you want to listen to this episode of CRR Radio where we talk with Monica Colby about what makes for a strong proposal and how to give the best presentation you can. Monica has been involved in evaluating proposals in just about every symposium, so she has a lot of experience to draw on to help you. "A really good proposal will start with your why's, your formative evaluation. Get to the point, be succinct, give us numbers and data. Tell the story, but do it in a quick, short way. In process, we're looking for what you did and trying to encourage everyone to start documenting what you're doing, why you did it, what mistakes you made, how you fix that, what you ran into, what you found works. Those are the things that we're really looking for is to be able to share that with one another and to be able to compare. Why did one program work and another one not work? What will work for my community?"

In this conversation with Matt Hoehler, we talk about how NIST is incorporating video to give people a much more immersive experience in wildland and structural fires. "One reason this is valuable, is just the ability to allow somebody to experience a fire from a perspective that they would otherwise not be able to experience, allows people to understand what we do in fire research and also what, you know, fire protection experts and what firefighters do and the environments that they're working in," said Hoehler. "So, being able to just put cameras in this environment, there's value of that in that and the fact that you've moved from a 2D view into a 360 view, means that the viewer gets to decide what they want to look at, rather than having whoever's shooting a 2D photograph decide what you're going to be looking at. "

One of the first steps in CRR is having a good handle on the makeup of your community - the people, the homes, the businesses and the industry. Data on all of this can be gathered from a variety of sources, both locally and nationally. In this conversation on CRR Radio we talk with Chip Walker from the U.S. Census Bureau on the tools that are available online for any jurisdiction to use in getting a better understanding of their community. We also talk about how the U.S. Census Bureau has resources that can be of immeasurable help when a disaster strikes.

CRR Week is a grass-roots movement that is starting to spread across the nation that will take place the week of January 20th, starting on Martin Luther King Day. Listen to Chiefs Chris Walker (Wilmington Fire, NC), Deanna Harrington (Arvada Fire Protection District, CO) and Josh Fulbright (SC State Fire Marshal's Office) fill us in on what it is all about!

in this episode we talk with West Midlands Chief Fire Officer Phil Loach in the UK about the upcoming symposium on international best practices in CRR that the UK National Fire Chiefs Council is doing in partnership with The Vision 20/20 Project. You can find more information about this ground-breaking symposium at https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/NFCC-Events/nfcc-vision-20-20-international-symposium/8359?OccId=12034

In the second part of this two-part series we finish our conversation with Captain Joe Powers, FO, from the Henrico County Division of Fire. This episode looks at the external side effects of CRR, focusing on how CRR can have a positive impact on the fire department's relationship with your community's governance. City and town administrators may speak a different language, focused on outcomes (lives and property saved) versus outputs (response time, number of calls), and CRR can be an instrumental part of helping you bridge this gap.  According to Captain Powers, "When we start thinking in the form of outcomes rather than outputs, we're able to start looking at, let's say commercial fires in a completely different way. Rather than thinking about the number of commercial fires that we ran last year over a given period of time, we can start looking at the tax revenue that we sustained through having a fire department that's able to respond quickly and mitigate incidents. We can also look at the job savings that occur. Outcomes are really the things that people care about. Outputs make pretty graphs a lot of times, but when it comes down to what elected officials and our community leaders are looking for, they're really looking for outcomes." Also, be sure to read Joe's blog post on this topic over at the Center for Public Safety Excellence. https://cpse.org/2019/07/16/side-effects-of-crr/

In this episode we talk with retired Australian Fire Chief Neil Bibby about how a group of fellow retired chiefs are coming together to work on the issue of the convergence of CRR and climate change. We also talk about how CRR is being implemented in Asia and what lessons we might learn from their experiences. You can reach Neil Bibby at neil@people-innovation.biz. Some links of interest from this episode's podcast: The Climate Council https://www.climatecouncil.org.au Bushfire & Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre http://www.bnhcrc.com.au

In this episode of CRR Radio we talk with Assistant Chief Rich Lewellyn with the Everett (Washington) Fire Department about his Executive Fire Officer research paper that focused on using GIS to identify opioid usage and create a data-visualization tool that could help communities in allocating resources to fight this epidemic. This paper is available for download from the National Fire Academy https://nfa.usfa.fema.gov/pdf/efop/efo244696.pdf

Chelsea Rubadou, Community Risk Reduction Strategist with NFPA talked with CRR Radio about the new standard, NFPA 1300 Standard on Community Risk Assessment and Community Risk Reduction Plan Development. This standard will be available in early June, and Chelsea gives us a great overview. And be sure to listen all the end for an update on the new CRA grant project that NFPA is launching!

In this episode of CRR Radio we chat with Naperville (IL) Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis about how they are using community risk reduction in Naperville and across the state of Illinois through the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. Also, be sure to check out the free CRR resources available to you from The Vision 20/20 Project, including the Fire Safety Materials Generator where you can create customized flyers, door hangers, refrigerator magnets and more at http://materialsgenerator.strategicfire.org.

Underwriters Laboratories has come out with a new standard for smoke alarms that radically changes the landscape. The new requirements are designed to make smoke alarms more responsive to a range of fires, yet also reduce the number of nuisance alarms. In this episode we talk with Bruce Johnson about the changes and what it means for the CRR community. You can find out more information at https://smokealarms.ul.org.

In this episode we talk with the CPSE Commission on Fire Accreditation Program Director Karl Ristow about the intersection of CRR and Accreditation and how CRR is a vital part of the accreditation process. You can learn more about accreditation at the Center for Public Safety Excellence at www.cpse.org.

Watch Commander Paul Speight from the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in the United Kingdom talks about how they are using virtual reality and 360 degree video in training the fire service and the public. This cutting-edge application has the promise of revolutionizing how to provide information in an incredibly engaging, realistic way that results in effective behavioral change. You can see the driving training in action here https://youtu.be/qztSyReEVc0, behind-the-scenes on the road safety film, and learn more about Leicestershire Fire and Rescue on their website https://leics-fire.gov.uk/

In this episode we talk with FF/PIO Corey Lewis from the Richmond, Kentucky, Fire Department.  RFD was one of the 25 agencies across the nation that took part in 2018's Town/Gown Fire Safety Community Service Project, a partnership between First Alert, the Michael H. Minger Foundation and Campus Firewatch, that connects college students with fire departments to install smoke alarms in at-risk homes. RFD took it to another level by also doing it on Martin Luther King Day as a community day of service with 53 students from Eastern Kentucky University. By using analytics, they were able to create heat maps identifying the at-risk parts of the community to better focus their efforts.

In this episode we talk with Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell from the IAFF about two of the data projects she is working on - FireCARES and NFORS. In addition to what Dr. Moore-Merrell is telling us in this podcast, you can learn more about them at http://www.firecares.org and http://www.nfors.org. Also, a new organization has been created that will be the host for both of these data projects, http://www.i-psdi.org.

In this episode we speak with Chief Nate Trauernicht, CFO, from the UC Davis Fire Department in California. Chief Davis heads up one of the few campus-based fire departments, and has a unique set of challenges when it comes to protecting the campus and students. His department has taken a very proactive approach through Community Risk Reduction to help teach the students lifelong skills.  As a bonus, during the conversation Chief Trauernicht was talking about the Social Media Style Guide that his department developed that they are sharing with other fire departments across the nation to help them in their outreach efforts. https://fire.ucdavis.edu/resources-fds

NFPA has released an updated educational messaging guide that includes new sections on campus fire safety and wildland fire safety. This guide contains a wealth of fire safety messaging covering a wide range of topics to help fire safety professionals develop standardized messages. You can download the EMAC Guide at https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Resources/Educational-messaging

Past IAFC President and Rogers Arkansas Fire Chief Tom Jenkins had the opportunity to travel and meet with fire departments across the United States and around the globe during his year in office. He sat down with CRR Radio and shared his observations on how fire departments are working with Community Risk Reduction and the challenges they are facing.

In this episode of CRR Radio we talk with Matt Hinds-Aldrich from the NFPA about the two-year grant they were awarded to look at how to better collect data relating to CRR activities.  Having a better way of documenting CRR activities would be key to helping develop evidence-based programs by collecting data relating to activity and outcomes. NFPA is looking for information on how departments are currently documenting their activities as part of this research project, and if you have something to contribute, please contact Matt Hinds-Aldrich at nfds@nfpa.org. (Sorry about some of the audio glitches during the podcast, we had an intermittent connection!)

In this episode of CRR Radio we talk with West Midlands FIre Service Chief Officer Phil Loach about the research project being undertaken in the UK to develop evidence-based methods for evaluating the impact of CRR (or as they call it, Integrated Risk Management). Phil Loach is Chief Fire Officer for West Midlands Fire Service, the largest UK Fire & Rescue Service outside of London. Alongside this, CFO Loach is also the Vice Chair for the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) which is made up of Chief Fire Officers from all 50 UK Fire & Rescue Services. Within the NFCC, CFO Loach is Programme Executive for the Community Risk Programme which has been set up to develop a comprehensive, evidence based and accredited risk analysis toolkit that is endorsed by the NFCC to assist UK fire and rescue services in developing their community risk management plans, while also being available to inform the understanding of Government departments around approaches to community risk management. The Programme is currently carrying out a Research Project that will include reaching out across the world to understand the approaches taken internationally when it comes to Community Risk Management. The Community Risk Programme is therefore inviting the International Fire Community to get in touch with the program if they would like to contribute or be involved in the exchange of ideas and sharing of approaches. Fire departments in the United States and other countries outside the UK can do so by contacting Group Commander Martin Ward-White at Martin.Ward-White@wmfs.net.