Information about the program:
THE BEGINNINGS
In 1994 and 1995 in Poland and in Lodz occurred a tragic series of fires:
- 29 .08.1994 Lodz, 6 people died and further 6 were transported to hospital suffering serious injuries as a result of a fire which broke out in a tenement house located at Sienkiewicza street
- 28.09.1994 Lodz, 2 people died and many others suffered carbon monoxide poisoning during a fire which broke out on the IX level of a 16-storey hotel-office building at Mickiewicza street. The building was filled with toxic fumes. Two people decided to jump from the window on the XV floor onto a inflatable safety device, however, one of them died.
- 24.11.1994 Gdansk, 7 people died and over 300 were injured as a result of chaos and panic during a tragic evacuation of the entertainment venue, at Gdansk Shipyards, which caught fire at the time of a concert. Most of the involved in the accident were children and young people.
- 03.12.1995 Lodz, during a blaze in a tenement house at Wojtowska street a family together with their children jump out of the third-floor window
Every year in Poland couple of hundred people die and many thousands suffer injuries as a result of fires. The authors of these educational programs, Marek Parol and Eligiusz Pietrzak, collected available data connected with the above mentioned fires as well as other blazes. The analysis of the human behaviour during those emergencies led to a surprising conclusion: that people die, suffer toxic fumes poisoning and burns due to the lack of knowledge about even the basic safety principles and protection against the phenomena occurring during fires. The authors recognised that the society should be informed about the causes of fires, which happen in places where people spend most of their time, mainly at home and work. However, the most important is education about the correct behaviour during a fire, meaning the principles of evacuating from a threatened area, protection against toxic fumes and high temperature, and co-operation with rescue services during rescue proceedings. They believe that the best effects in the area of protecting people’s health and lives can be achieved by education on a mass scale.
THE STAGES OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
The first stage of program creation concerns children and youth. The authors developed a set of brochures containing information about the issues connected with fires.
The second stage is to develop educational materials containing information about fires for sight and hearing impaired children.
The third stage concerns adults and students of senior secondary schools. At the beginning the brochures introduced the issues connected with fires. Later, other materials about different emergencies which can occur every day or happen as the result of terrorist activities, were developed.
THE ACHIEVED EFFECTS
So far 400000 brochures were published in Lodz, Poland. The ideas included in these materials reached through the educational program hundreds of thousands people. Very noticeable is the interest voiced by mass media, mainly the local press in Lodz and the specialised journals such as: “Przegląd Pożarniczy” and “Przegląd Obrony Cywilnej”. Many articles positively appraising this form of education were published. Moreover, the interest about the issues of fire protection among the local community was raised by the program. Very significant are the educational films, realised on the basis of the brochures. It can be stated that the ongoing long term development of the program has increased the sense of safety among community.
Also, a positive aspect of the program is in the statistics concerning the fire death casualties among children and adults.
AWARDS
This program was awarded by the British fund KNOW HOW in the “Innovations in Cities. City 2000” The idea of educating people about fires with the use of a comic strip form was awarded by the International Chapter of the Comic Strip Festival “Komiks 2001”
Based on the realised in Lodz community education, the program can be easily developed into the next, less accented so far, categories of emergencies e.g. ecological, safety of children and young people at home, during entertainment, and safety on the roads. Currently in Poland, there is a huge area of demand for people and institutions, who want to educate community in the area of safe conduct during an emergency. The mentioned educational program has been developed in such a way which allows its transplantation to fulfil the needs of other towns.
(C) All rights to the drawings are reserved.
THE BEGINNINGS
In 1994 and 1995 in Poland and in Lodz occurred a tragic series of fires:
- 29 .08.1994 Lodz, 6 people died and further 6 were transported to hospital suffering serious injuries as a result of a fire which broke out in a tenement house located at Sienkiewicza street
- 28.09.1994 Lodz, 2 people died and many others suffered carbon monoxide poisoning during a fire which broke out on the IX level of a 16-storey hotel-office building at Mickiewicza street. The building was filled with toxic fumes. Two people decided to jump from the window on the XV floor onto a inflatable safety device, however, one of them died.
- 24.11.1994 Gdansk, 7 people died and over 300 were injured as a result of chaos and panic during a tragic evacuation of the entertainment venue, at Gdansk Shipyards, which caught fire at the time of a concert. Most of the involved in the accident were children and young people.
- 03.12.1995 Lodz, during a blaze in a tenement house at Wojtowska street a family together with their children jump out of the third-floor window
Every year in Poland couple of hundred people die and many thousands suffer injuries as a result of fires. The authors of these educational programs, Marek Parol and Eligiusz Pietrzak, collected available data connected with the above mentioned fires as well as other blazes. The analysis of the human behaviour during those emergencies led to a surprising conclusion: that people die, suffer toxic fumes poisoning and burns due to the lack of knowledge about even the basic safety principles and protection against the phenomena occurring during fires. The authors recognised that the society should be informed about the causes of fires, which happen in places where people spend most of their time, mainly at home and work. However, the most important is education about the correct behaviour during a fire, meaning the principles of evacuating from a threatened area, protection against toxic fumes and high temperature, and co-operation with rescue services during rescue proceedings. They believe that the best effects in the area of protecting people’s health and lives can be achieved by education on a mass scale.
THE STAGES OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
The first stage of program creation concerns children and youth. The authors developed a set of brochures containing information about the issues connected with fires.
The second stage is to develop educational materials containing information about fires for sight and hearing impaired children.
The third stage concerns adults and students of senior secondary schools. At the beginning the brochures introduced the issues connected with fires. Later, other materials about different emergencies which can occur every day or happen as the result of terrorist activities, were developed.
THE ACHIEVED EFFECTS
So far 400000 brochures were published in Lodz, Poland. The ideas included in these materials reached through the educational program hundreds of thousands people. Very noticeable is the interest voiced by mass media, mainly the local press in Lodz and the specialised journals such as: “Przegląd Pożarniczy” and “Przegląd Obrony Cywilnej”. Many articles positively appraising this form of education were published. Moreover, the interest about the issues of fire protection among the local community was raised by the program. Very significant are the educational films, realised on the basis of the brochures. It can be stated that the ongoing long term development of the program has increased the sense of safety among community.
Also, a positive aspect of the program is in the statistics concerning the fire death casualties among children and adults.
AWARDS
This program was awarded by the British fund KNOW HOW in the “Innovations in Cities. City 2000” The idea of educating people about fires with the use of a comic strip form was awarded by the International Chapter of the Comic Strip Festival “Komiks 2001”
Based on the realised in Lodz community education, the program can be easily developed into the next, less accented so far, categories of emergencies e.g. ecological, safety of children and young people at home, during entertainment, and safety on the roads. Currently in Poland, there is a huge area of demand for people and institutions, who want to educate community in the area of safe conduct during an emergency. The mentioned educational program has been developed in such a way which allows its transplantation to fulfil the needs of other towns.
(C) All rights to the drawings are reserved.
