Texas Department of Insurance

Prepare. Practice. Prevent the Unthinkable.

In 2003, FEMA kicked off a public safety campaign to reduce fire deaths in babies and toddlers. The campaign is to raise awareness about the increased risk of fire death for young children and to teach parents and caregivers how they can avoid such a tragedy. The campaign's message emphasizes:

• installing smoke alarms,
• securing lighters and matches, and
• developing a fire evacuation plan under the theme "Prepare. Practice. Prevent the Unthinkable."

"A baby or toddler under age five dies nearly every day in a residential fire," said Homeland Security Under Secretary Michael D. Brown. "These young children have a disproportionately higher risk of fire death than the rest of the population. They depend on their parents and caregivers to keep them safe, to prevent residential fires from starting, and to increase the chances that the entire family can escape a fire quickly and safely."

From 1989 through 1998, U.S. (and Texas) children younger than five were twice as likely as the rest of the population to die in a residential fire; in that decade 5,712 children died in fires in this country, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, part of FEMA and the initiator of the campaign.

U.S. Fire Administrator R. David Paulison says, "No child –not a single one–should suffer such an awful death, a death that can be prevented by parents who take the necessary precautions. Every parent and every caregiver with young children depending on them must take a few simple but important steps to prevent this tragedy. Even toddlers can be taught how to quickly respond in case of fire and adults need to know how they will escape with infants."

Four national partner organizations (the American Academy of Pediatrics, National SAFE KIDS Campaign, NFPA and ZERO TO THREE) have pledged to spread the message to parents and caregivers. We urge the Texas fire service to join us and these other organizations in that mission and parents and caregivers to access the fire safety information being made available.

Campaign materials can be found in both English and Spanish through at www.usfaparents.gov or ordered through the U.S. Fire Administration's Publications Online Catalog at www.usfa.fema.gov/applications/publications/.

For more information contact: