Fire Smoke Coalition Applauds Congressional Fire Services Institute Resolution on Reducing Deaths from Smoke Inhalation

INDIANAPOLIS, May 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Fire Smoke Coalition
today applauds the Congressional Fire Services Institute’s (CFSI) National
Advisory Council (NAC) passage of A Resolution to Address a New Epidemic: Smoke
Inhalationat its April board meeting. CFSI is a leading non-partisan policy
institute designed to educate members of Congress on the needs of our nation’s
fire and emergency services.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fire-smoke-coalition-applauds-congressional-fire-services-institute-resolution-on-reducing-deaths-from-smoke-inhalation-122151129.html

In its resolution, CFSI notes that there is mounting proof, obtained through
atmospheric monitoring on fire grounds throughout the U.S., that hydrogen
cyanide (HCN) is a predominant toxicant found in fire smoke. The resolution
calls for educating the fire service about the dangers of smoke
inhalation–including those of HCN–through support of a national education
program, the development of HCN poisoning treatment protocols for all local and
state emergency medical services (EMS), and efforts by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a national database of smoke
inhalation injuries, medical complications and deaths linked to HCN.

“It’s encouraging to see that both fire smoke and hydrogen cyanide poisoning are
being recognized by CFSI for the serious and prevalent illnesses they are,” said
Rob Schnepp, assistant chief of Special Operations for the Alameda County (CA)
Fire Department. “As we learn more about the dangers of fire smoke, and pass
that information along to firefighters and civilians around the world, we are
confident we can reduce the number of people injured and killed by smoke.”

In the United States, residential fires are the third leading cause of fatal
injury and the fifth most common cause of unintentional injury death, yet the
majority of fire-related fatalities are not caused by burns, but by smoke
inhalation. Despite the amount of fires in the U.S. decreasing each year, the
amount of civilians dying in fires is actually increasing. For example, in 2009,
1,348,500 fires were attended by public fire departments, a decrease of 7.1
percent from the year before; however, 3,010 civilian fire deaths occurred,
which is an increase of 9.3 percent.(i)

In fire smoke, hydrogen cyanide can be up to 35 times more toxic than carbon
monoxide,(ii) an underappreciated risk that can cause severe injury or death
within minutes.(iii,iv) In a review of major fires over a 19-year period,
cyanide was found at toxic-to-lethal levels in the blood of approximately 33
percent to 87 percentof fatalities.(v)

“By approving a resolution on smoke inhalation, our National Advisory Committee
recognizes that CFSI should become actively engaged in efforts to increase
national awareness on the dangers of smoke inhalation and on initiatives to
reduce its risks to both the public and the fire service,” said Bill Webb,
executive director of the CFSI. “I commend (Coalition board member, CFSI member
and editor of Fire Engineering) Bobby Halton for bringing this resolution
forward to the NAC and for providing strong leadership on such an important
issue.”

The Fire Smoke Coalition will begin working with various government agencies and
medical associations in an effort to reduce the number of smoke inhalation
deaths by elevating awareness surrounding hydrogen cyanide as the most deadly
toxicant in fire smoke, which is treatable if detected. “As a country, if we can
accept that 30,654 human beings died during a 10-year period, we’ve become
complacent about the illness,” said Shawn Longerich, executive director of the
Coalition. “That’s unacceptable. This Resolution raises the bar for all of us to
do more and we can by embracing new medical treatment protocols that include
consideration for hydrogen cyanide poisoning in today’s fire smoke.”

About the Fire Smoke Coalition

The Fire Smoke Coalition, a division of the Cyanide Poisoning Treatment
Coalition (CPTC), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The mission of the
Fire Smoke Coalition is to focus the required attention and resources on the
deadly and life-long consequences of breathing fire smoke by teaching
firefighters and first responders how to prevent, protect, detect, diagnose, and
appropriately treat the exposure if it occurs. For more information, please
visit www.FireSmoke.org.

References:

(i) United States Fire Administration; Fire Loss in the United States in 2009;
Michael J. Karter.

(ii) Tuovinen H, Blomqvist P. Modeling of hydrogen cyanide formation in room
fires. Brandforsk project 321-011. SP Report 2003:10. Boras, Sweden: SP Swedish
National Testing and Research Institute; 2003.

(iii) Guidotti T. Acute cyanide poisoning in prehospital care: new challenges,
new tools for intervention. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2006;21(2):S40-S48.

(iv) Eckstein M, Maniscalco PM. Focus on smoke inhalation – the most common
cause of acute cyanide poisoning. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2006;21(2):S49-S55.

(v) Alarie Y. Toxicity of fire smoke. Crit Rev Toxicol. 2002;32(4):259-289.
CONTACT: Shawn Longerich, +1-317-690-2542, shawn@firesmoke.org