The First 2,000 Rescues: Was the Victim Behind a Closed Door with Survival Rate

Data from the first 2,000 recorded rescues (you read that right) has been collected, calculated, and collated for all you nerds.

Data Drop....Was Victim Behind a Closed Door v Survival Rate.

Four primary factors impact the survivability of a given space inside a building on fire: the physical proximity to the fire (distance), the elevation in the space (dose), whether or not there is a closed door separating the fire from the given space (dose), and how long an area is exposed to fire (duration). UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute has long understood the importance of closed doors as life safety tools, and this objective fact has been demonstrated in dozens of full-scale fire experiments over the past ten-plus years. Now we have the experiential data to strengthen the already empirically proven claim. Data collected thus far shows that the survival rate of recorded rescues where victims were located behind a closed door is 86%, while the survival rate of recorded rescues where victims were not behind a closed door is only 62%...that’s a difference of almost 25%. Like in all things, the more we learn about something, the more questions arise.

Does your department push the Close Before You Doze message during your public education campaign?

Who do we preach this message to more than just the elementary aged kiddos? What about the elderly, parents, teachers, college students, etc., etc.?

Do we train our members on how to present our public education messages, or do we just have the least senior member present?

Like UL FSRI has been preaching, a closed door is not the only tool that we can give our citizens to help themselves in case of a fire. The three life safety pillars are: working smoke alarms, evacuation plans, and closed doors.