Jon Macdonald, Safe & Well Advisor for Dorset & Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service will give us an overview of this initiative.
Minutes:
Jon MacDonald, Safe and Well Advisor for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, was in attendance to present information on fire safety and the Safe and Well Initiative. Some of the points covered in his presentation included:
What is a Safe & Well visit?
A home and person risk assessment to identify potential hazards within the home and through education and advice, measures are put in place to reduce them.
Reasons to carry out Safe & Well tests:
• To decrease the number of deaths and injuries caused by fire within the home through educating residents on fire safety.
• To encourage a ‘healthy conversation’ with the occupier to identify potential areas where improvements may be made to health or wellbeing.
Eligibility criteria:
• Are aged 65 or over
• Smoker
• Live alone
• Never worked
• Have mobility issues or other disability
• Hearing/vision impairment
• Have any children aged 5 or under
• Live in a thatched, mobile home or house boat
How the visits are delivered:
• There are a team of Safe & Well Advisors across both Counties
• They are there to provide advice, information and practical measures that will reduce the risk of ill health and hospital admissions.
• The aim is to educate occupiers through signposting to partners and interventions.
How to request a visit:
• Once a request is received, a member of the team will make contact by telephone to make a suitable appointment.
• The information given is advice only.
• To register you can call 0800 0382323
• or visit the web page: dwfire.org.uk
Questions and comments included:
· What can we expect in terms of a response in rural areas like Bowerchalke? – Answer: The performance standard in the Community Safety Plan states that on 75% of occasions, we will achieve our response standards based on a 10-minute response time including all call handling and travel time. However, Bowerchalke is very rural and will have a slower response. The three closest stations are Tisbury, Wilton and Cranborne. Depending on the location of the fire service appliances at that moment the appliances could be approximately 20 minutes. So, if you are in an area where you are 15 -20 mins from a fire station that enforces the need for a Safe & Well check, as prevention is better than cure.
· Do you have anything that we can put on our village websites? Answer: Yes I will provide Steve with something.
· Which type of adaptors are not recommended? – Answer: The old fashioned cube adaptors, they get overloaded and hot, it would be best to replace with a strip adaptor.
· If we are not to use washing machines overnight, what are fire services doing to liaise with energy companies who give cheaper tariffs for night use? Answer: not many people still have those types of tariffs. Cllr Jeans also added that he had seen over 20 appliance fires through his working life. He recommended to turn appliances off over night for safety.