Fire Brigade Targets Persons with Disabilities, The Elderly

The Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) will be embarking on a yearlong campaign that will focus on improving service delivery to persons with disabilities (PwDs) and the elderly.

The campaign, which will begin with Fire and Life Safety Awareness Week activities, from October 23 to 29, will see the brigade engaging with PwDs, both adults and children, and senior citizens and their caregivers.

Groups such as the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities, Jamaica Society for the Blind, Jamaica Association for the Deaf and Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf, are partnering with the brigade in the undertaking.

Speaking at a JIS Think Tank on Thursday (October 20), Commissioner of the JFB, Stewart Beckford, said the activities to engage the vulnerable groups will not be confined to the week of observance.

“We have always been working along with them, but they are being singled out for attention for this week. Some of the activities that we are going to be undertaking in collaboration with some of these associations will go well into the next year and so on.

“ It is a partnership that will endure for some time to come because as long as they are among us, they will need that kind of attention. We plan to remain engaged with these institutions because they are a vital part of our community,” Commissioner Beckford said.

The Commissioner said that the brigade will also target persons with intellectual disabilities and partner with the Poor Relief Departments within the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to reach senior citizens.

Some of the JFB’s immediate plans include the training of fire wardens among the vulnerable population, assisting in developing emergency plans, conducting fire drills to test the response of the various groups, and helping them to identify and reduce fire hazards within their spaces.

Senior Deputy Superintendent and Public Relations Officer of the JFB, Emeleo Ebanks, shared that messages will be tailored to meet the needs of the various groups.

“We have to… reach them where they are, and for the first time ever in the history of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, we will be doing brochures in Braille. So, individuals who are blind will get that information of what to do to prevent fires and what to do in the event of fires,” he said.

He noted that the Brigade’s approach to helping PwDs extends beyond sharing information with the community to equipping firefighters to communicate with them.

“A very vital part of this, for us as firefighters, is that we will be getting some training for members of the Fire Brigade so we will be able to communicate with these individuals in a better way.

“Sign language will alert us and help us as firefighters to teach these individuals how to prevent fires and what to do in the event of one,” Mr. Ebanks said, noting that JFB personnel will also be able to engage with hearing-impaired persons encountered at the scene of fires.

The JFB will be observing Fire and Life Safety Awareness Week from October 23 to 29 under the theme ‘Preserving the Nation through Life Safety and Fire Prevention’.