title: Fire safety knowledge and practices among residents of an assisted living facility.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Assisted living facilities (ALFs) pose unique fire risks to the elderly that may be linked to specific fire safety (FS) practices.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate self-reported FS practices among ALF residents.
  
  
  METHODS
  All residents of a small ALF were surveyed regarding actual and hypothetical FS behaviors, self-perceived fire risk, and FS preparedness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-eight ALF residents completed the survey. Thirty-three (58%) individuals reported one or more disabilities. Seven (12%) residents ignored the fire alarm and 21 (35%) could not hear it clearly. Sixteen (28%) residents would attempt to locate the source of a fire rather than escape from the building. Only 24 (42%) residents were familiar with the building fire plan. Twenty-three (40%) people surveyed believed that they were not at risk of fire in the study facility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Residents of an ALF may be at increased fire injury risk due to their FS practices and disabilities.
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Department of Emergency Medicine, Division of EMS, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. jaslowd@einstein.edu
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jaslow
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ufberg
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Clay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McQueen
authors.forename: Derek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zecher
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jakubowski
mesh_terms: D040561:Assisted Living Facilities; D003625:Data Collection; D005390:Fires; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D017751:Safety Management