We are proud to announce you that RAFT (The Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust www.raft.ac.uk ) is joining the EBCA organization. In total we are counting already nine members and we are representing seven countries! We are looking forwards for other European countries to join EBCA...
We are proud to announce you that RAFT (The Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust www.raft.ac.uk ) is joining the EBCA organization.
In total we are counting already nine members and we are representing seven countries!
We are looking forwards for other European countries to join EBCA.
You can help us if you have perhaps colleagues in other countries who you can convince!
June 3th 2010 10th Roundtable of the European Fire Academy in Brussels
On June 3th and 4th, EFA (www.europeanfireacademy.com/cms/sho ) opened there 10th Roundtable in Brussels. In the European ParliamentBuilding, EFA had the opportunity during a network lunch with Mr Malcolm Harbour (www.torymeps.com/content/malcolmharbour.htm), Chair Internal Market and...
In the European ParliamentBuilding, EFA had the opportunity during a network lunch with Mr Malcolm Harbour (www.torymeps.com/content/malcolmharbour.htm), Chair Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) and other members of the European Parliament (MEP) to exchange ideas.
First of all Mr Malcolm Harbour gave a presentation about IMCO, after this speech every member of EFA and of course also EBCA had the opportunity to ask some questions to Mr Harbour.
The objective of this lunch was to explore the ways in which ”MEPs” can cooperate with EΦA and EBCA to help improve fire safety in Europe, an issue that lies at the very heart of our commitment to protect EU citizens.
April 21th 2010 8th International Fire Sprinkler Conference in Brussels
The 8th International Fire Sprinkler Conference was held in Brussels on May the 21th and can be called a huge success. EBCA was invited by the Executive Director of the European Fire Sprinkler Network Mr Alan Brinson. Our member of board Mr Dominiek Viane had the opportunity to speech for 20 mi...
The 8th International Fire Sprinkler Conference was held in Brussels on May the 21th and can be called a huge success.
EBCA was invited by the Executive Director of the European Fire Sprinkler Network Mr Alan Brinson. Our member of board Mr Dominiek Viane had the opportunity to speech for 20 minutes and to explain wherefore EBCA stands. The 200 present persons were delighted.
We also had the chance to follow a lot of interesting presentation like: A pilot Project to Retrofit Residential Sprinklers by R. Weewer - Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Fire Service of Amsterdam-Amstelland and How Long Must We Wait? How Many More People Will Die Needlessly In Fires? By Keith MacGillivray Sprinkler Safe Europe Ltd
More information about this meeting can you find on the website of Sprinkler : www.eurosprinkler.org/
Dear Mrs McCarth Dear Mrs Frédérique Ries EBCA is the European Burn Casualty Association, formed in 2008. We are an international non-profit organisation with as main objectives to share knowledge between its members about burns, to help with the prevention of burns, to evolve t...
Dear Mrs McCarth
Dear Mrs Frédérique Ries
EBCA is the European Burn Casualty Association, formed in 2008. We are an international non-profit organisation with as main objectives to share knowledge between its members about burns, to help with the prevention of burns, to evolve towards better care & aftercare for burns, and to better defend the rights of burn patients at European level. At present EBCA already is present in Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, and we are looking to expand the organisation with more countries in the months to come. The special thing about EBCA is that the organization looks on these topics from the point of view of the European citizen, and mainly focuses on the results of legislation in the improvement of fire safety in Europe.
As EBCA we are keen to become engaged in cooperation with the European Parliament and we believe there are certain topics that could benefit from more in-depth discussion and action at European level, such as collection of better fire statistics and domestic and hotel fire safety. We understand there has been a hearing on hotel fire safety in the Parliament last year and are interested in becoming involved in any further activity in this field. Furthermore we would be interested to get your advise on current activities in the European Parliament where EBCA could give input, from the citizens point of view.
We also want to express our big concern related to the discussions on the RoHS Directive, where proposals to ban flame retardants are being debated at present. As EBCA we believe that fire prevention is very important, & smoke detectors, sprinklers & flame retardants are crucial tools to give people more time to escape, resulting in less injuries. While we are no experts on flame retardants, we would caution the European Parliament to consider the consequences of not using flame retardants especially in electrical & electronic products. What we do know about flame retardants is that a lot of casualties in burns (fatalities and burn injuries) are caused by the lack of escape time and the speed with which a fire develops, whether it is in domestic, hotel or transport fires. The estimate of the number of burn fatalities due to the lack of good flame retardant legislation is about 5.000/year.
In this framework, we already have a partnership with EFA (the European Fire-fighters Association), and both EFA and EBCA could learn a lot from each other about e.g. the importance of the existing flame retardants that need to be used much more in upholstered furniture, home textiles, etc… More than 20 years experience in this field in the U.K. have more than clearly stated the benefits of this kind of bullet-proof fire prevention.
One everyday example to set this clear from the EBCA point of view: you cannot prevent people from smoking, but you can prevent the furniture of the smoker to catch fire by means of the use of good flame retardants in this furniture. Tests in TNO (Holland) in 2008 have proven that escape time in a fire caused by a burning sofa without flame retardants is approximately 3 minutes before the smoke in your home reduces every escape to zero. The time you need to notice the fire, to get the sleeping kids and to leave the home, is mostly much longer than this 3 minutes, with mostly catastrophic consequences… With flame retardants, this problem is solved at once.
Finally, we have some ideas regarding reaching out to the European Parliament, such as organising a breakfast meeting with some more points that could drastically improve fire safety in the E.U., fire prevention and the rights of burn patients. From the experiences we had during the last 2 years, we have learned that a lot of good legislation inside the E.U. or good proposals from industry in certain topics were often too far away from the one that finally should benefit from the legislation: the European citizen. Your advice on how to organise this, as well as other key players we should contact, would be very helpful. We are available to help the E.U. with further discussions on these topics and would very much like to get in touch with you on this.
We would be delighted to meet with you in the Parliament building in Brussels at your earliest convenience. Alternatively, you are welcome to visit the European reference centre for burn victims, which was officially opened in December 2009 & which is located just north of Brussels. Can you send me tree days on which you could visit us in the Military Hospital Queen Astrid, Bruynstraat 100, 1120 Brussels please?
Following the introduction of the participants, it was noted that despite the Belgian Fire Sprinkler Network being a Belgian initiative, only representatives from Flanders were present, but none from Wallonia. Though the majority of fire sprinkler related companies is located in Flanders, there are also Walloon companies which we should try to involve. It would also be of advantage to involve the Fire Service as they give recommendations on fire safety. If those are positive about sprinkler systems their recommendations could include them when recommending fire preventive measures. Dominique du Trè (DdT) informed that she will be meeting with both the Flemish and Walloon Fire Services on Friday, 5th March and inform them about the BFSN.
Martin Margodt (MM) informed that Pinocchio is, together with AGORIA, part of the working group under the wing of the Federal Ministry of Interior. The purpose of this working group is to discuss fire prevention in housing and how to inform the wider public about this topic as the lack of knowledge is the biggest problem.
We also discussed intensively what the best approach would be for the planned press conference with fire demo at ANPI. Despite the discussion and various opinions it was understood by everybody that we have to make a start somewhere. Sinikka Freidhof (SF) added that we should wait for the press conference and then analyse the reaction of the journalists and the public in general. Additional questions can be dealt with if and when they come up.
As a summary specific to the press conference it was agreed:
1. Objective: Inform about sprinkler systems and its myths in a way to make the topic easier accessible to a wider public. Prove how easy a sprinkler system is. Target shall be limited to care homes, hospitals and hotels.
2. Invitees: Invitation to:
Press
Ministry of Interior
Fire & Rescue Services
Care Home Owners and Managers
3. Conference: a) Presentations
- Introduction of sprinkler technology (how does it work and what can it do?)
- Clarifying the myths about sprinkler systems
- Comparison with other countries
- Statistical data on fires, sprinklers systems, sprinkler activation
- Statistical data burn victims
b) Film
- Comparison of two burning rooms, one with and one without sprinkler protection
c) Fire Demo
- A sprinkler system in action to be witnessed
d) Reception to answer possible questions from the public in an informal manner
As a sprinkler system is working independently, the safety for the building and its inhabitants is increased as such that other fire protective measures may fail without major consequences to the safety. The sprinkler system’s independence is opposed to other fire protective measures that depend on a human strictly obeying the requirements, which depend on a lot of “ifs”. Dominique du Trè (DdT) stressed that we should avoid to play off the different fire protection measures against each other and just focus on sprinkler systems in order to remain credible. Bart de Winter (BdW) suggested to also inviting care home owners and managers to introduce them to the sprinkler solution. EDS added that the most important factor for them is often the cost factor. We therefore should have a cost estimate in Euro available rather than stating that a sprinkler system represents 2% of the overall construction costs. AB informed that BUPA (biggest health care insurer in the UK) has decided to fit sprinklers in all their homes. It was asked if we could possibly invite BUPA to the press conference to give a presentation about their fire protection policy.
SF asked if ANPI could send the invitations for the press conference to make sure that we speak with one voice. To this regard, she will circulate a format among the participants on which everybody shall enter the contacts they believe shall be invited. She’ll compile the received info on one single list and forward to ANPI for sending out the invitation. MM suggested that a press file for the journalists would be useful so that they know where to gather additional information. DdT offered to take care of the preparation of the press file.
AB asked AD if Minister Turtelboom could be present and AD promised to check her availability and come back to us with possible dates.
Alan Brinson (AB) informed about the initiative in Norway, where 5,000 dwellings per year are being installed with a sprinkler system and where 30 to 40% of all new housing is sprinklered with similar developments in Wales and Finland. However, it was noted that for Belgium, the reference to private housing is still too early. Nevertheless, when the question comes up we can mention that the same technology can also be used in private dwellings and not only in care homes. Martin Margodt (MM) informed that an important discussion point can is that care homes lack increasingly personnel and that particularly during night the situation is so tight that timely evacuation of the building is impossible. Erik De Smet (EDS) stated that the fire brigade can arrive within 7 to 8 minutes and that although there is no problem for the fire brigade in Belgium to arrive in time, sprinkler systems with their faster reaction time can make the difference.
It was agreed that participants of the BFSN interested in contributing by sponsoring material and installation support for the press conference, would contact ANPI. Alain Verhoyen (AV) will then coordinate a separate technical meeting to discuss needed materials and further steps for the burn demo installation.
Depending on the installation, it still has to be decided if the public can witness the demo directly or if it is safer to install a camera and witness the burn demo on a screen outside. PM was concerned if an actual burn demo will grant enough visibility to allow for the public to understand what they see. EdS said that even if the during the demo visibility might be limited, they can still gather an idea once they can have a look at the remaining room after the fire.
As a general matter, MM pointed out that the industry should be more visible to the public such as attending trade shows (e.g. Batibouw), to which SF added that people have to have read about it first so that they can make the connection to what they see. With regards to the Melle fire, MM pointed out that there was hardly any negative information in the press about the fire as if everything was according to the rules. Alain Damit (AD) stated that the measures implemented must be according to the expected risk. In Melle, all necessary measures have been implemented, but since the doors were open, the people died due to smoke inhalation and he didn’t believe that a sprinkler system could have prevented that either. In his opinion an automatic door closing system would have better. Patrick Merckx (PM) asked how reliable that system could be if the doors are being blocked by e.g. fire extinguishers? EDS informed that in apartment buildings, doors are being controlled twice per year. The maintenance is expensive and to be sloppy about it is dangerous as doors are being used all the time, age and hence become less reliable. When evaluating the risk, one also needs to evaluate the lifetime, reliability, availability and the maintenance costs to come to the most appropriate solution. There are other technical solutions such as the automatic closure of open doors, but the signals are not standardized so that the installation has to be evaluated for every project separately.
MM said that following amendment of legislation, the number of victims has dropped. However, the statistics he has available lists only victims dying from the fire. Victims having succumbed to smoke are not listed. He suggested checking with the fire brigade or the Ministry of Health (Ministerie voor Volksgezondheid).
It was agreed that the next meeting of the BFSN group shall take place 4th May 2010 at 14.00 h and MM offered to host the meeting at the EBCA facility:
Hôpital Militaire Reine Astrid (HMRA)
c/o: vzw Pinocchio / EBCA
6th Floor
Rue Bruynstraat 200
1120 Neder-over-Heembeek
ACTION
BY
Inform leading representative of Flemish and Walloon Fire Services about BFSN
DdT
Check with fire brigade and Ministry of Health for statistics regarding victims dying directly from / subsequently to smoke inhalation
MM
Coordinate technical sub-meeting with interested parties for sponsoring material and installation knowhow for ANPI press conference
AV
Contact BUPA to evaluate their availability and interest to present at the press conference
AB
Send out template list to participants for them to fill in contact details of possible invitees to press conference. Compile info and forward to ANPI for sending out the invitation
SF
Preparation of press file for participants at press conference
Hereby you find the report of the EBCA meeting in Paris on January 8th.Present were: Mr Martin Margodt (vzw Pinocchio), Mr Paul Villain (ABF) , Mr Dominiek Viaene and Mr Hubert Van Der Snickt (EBCA).Agenda:At the EFA 9th Roundtable in Berlin it was agreed that the EFA members, where EBCA is ...
Hereby you find the report of the EBCA meeting in Paris on January 8th.
Present were: Mr Martin Margodt (vzw Pinocchio), Mr Paul Villain (ABF) , Mr Dominiek Viaene and Mr Hubert Van Der Snickt (EBCA).
Agenda:
At the EFA 9th Roundtable in Berlin it was agreed that the EFA members, where EBCA is member of, would reach out to Members of the European Parliament (MEPS) in their country in order to present EBCA and EFA and our concerns about the situation of burned peoples. See our goals on our website http://www.ebca.info/EN/Goals. In annex you will also find a list of MEPS in the EU (with a medical background) who might be interested in fire safety issues as they are members of parliamentary committees discussing these type of matters. You will also find their biographies and contact details.
• Were already checked and assigned to contact:
An important MEP for Mr. Paul Villain : Philippe Juvin, perhaps he could be the godfather! Ultimately, what we need is ONE MEP per country to support EBCA and EFA in its actions. When you reach out to MEPS of your country, we suggest that you combine this list with any personal contact you may have with MEPS and prioritize your outreach accordingly. As presented in Berlin, every month, MEPS spend one week in their constituency (Brussels – EU parliament?). We recommend to meet them there rather than in your country where time is limited. EBCA will visit the most important EU parliamentarians (±80 persons)
Mr Paul Villain will ask Mme. Corinne Fabre to check for us the most important EU parliamentarians who can help, mostly those who work for the family security or in EU health care issues. We hope that Mme. Corinne Fabre could fix an appointment to those parliamentarians to deliver them personally the “Box” by means of a representation of EBCA
As discussed at the Roundtable, the aim of the meeting with the EU MEPS is to:
• Present EBCA and EFA and outline the key work we (under whichEBCA) are doing in the EFA working groups
• Explore if MEPs are willing to support EFA in its objectives
• Explore who is willing to host the next EFA Roundtable in the EP (If they are not able to host, it important to at least inform them that we are holding a Roundtable in Brussels and that we will send them an invitation in due time)
Sprinklers As we sent you already the report (hereby in English) on January 11th and we want to bring you to your attention that EBCA is in favour of the use of Sprinklers. Certainly in common places like hospitals, rest homes, schools. It is a very necessary item that is indispensable like upholstered furniture and smoke detectors in order to save human lives. The last fires in a rest home in Melle and Genappe (BE) with 9 and 2 killed peoples proved us again of the importance of those life-save-items! EBCA will do its best to translate the report and to send it ASAP to you! On January 26thMr Paul Villain will participate on a Sprinkler meeting in France with Mr. Alan Branson. In the week of March 22th ANPI (National Fire and Intrusion Protection Association www.anpi.be ) will organize a press conference with demonstrations about Sprinklers and invite authorities, architects and insurers.
Subsidies EU. Since 1 month EBCA is contacting organisations who can help us to obtain subsidies from the EU Parliament. In order to maximize EBCA’s chances, EBCA will use specialised support to set up the file for this. The funds will be used for the continued functioning of EBCA over the next 5 years. This will allow us to work durable on better rights and service for all burned people in Europe.
Mr Paul Villain will do the necessary administration to dissolve the EFAB (European Federation of Associations of Burned Persons), so EBCA will become the only EU patient group network.
EBCA will make a issue of the reimbursement of cost for nursing by frontier accidents. There EBCA wants to find a solution for people from other countries, being taken care of in foreign hospitals (over the border). Often invoices from hospitals from one country towards the patients country were not settled due to a lack of exchange protocols between hospital insurance companies. Result was that patients are put to law suits by the hospitals because the patient’s hospital insurance company did not immediately pay for the costs due to a lack of protocol for this. EBCA will try to settle this between the countries.
Conclusions and examples of differences between countries: - In France there are 220 beds in 22 burn centres for 63 million inhabitants. In the future, France will try to group those 22 burn centres. - In Belgium there are 6 burn centres with 66 beds in 6 burn centres for 10 million inhabitants... In the future Belgium will try also to group those burn centres. - Also in France since 1997 there is a reimbursement for two pressure suits (second 6 months later) and each trimester new pressure gloves. In Belgium the system is different - Due to the crisis in Europe, governments try to save money on burn care by reducing the reimbursement of several therapies for burn patients, without reasoning about their efficiency.
Mr. Paul Villain requested a study about the healing for burn victims who were and who were not surged in a cure centre. The reason why is to prove that a surgeon in a cure centre is necessary et to become in this way a reimbursement. The average cost in a cure centre in France for 3 weeks is ± €1.000 (excluding lodging and food?). Results: Later
In France for a long hospitalisation, the ALD “Allocation Long Durée” pay back the cost if the burn centre introduced a demand, if not the patient receive only 30% from the cost of his surging in the burn centre and his transport cost. In France you are not obliged to have an hospitalisation insurance so there is a problem by those who haven’t no insurance!
December 14th 2009 Meeting Belgian Fire Sprinkler Network
Participants: Alan Brinson (AB), EFSN Michel Delruelle...
Participants: Alan Brinson (AB), EFSN Michel Delruelle (MD), ANPI Bernard Deneus (BD), Victaulic Martin Margodt (MM), EBCA, Pinocchio Hubert Van Der Snickt (HVDS), EBCA, Pinocchio François Asselman (FA), Somati Erik De Smet (EDS) Sinikka Freidhof (SF), Lubrizol Following the fires with fatal consequences in the care homes of Melle and Genappe, the participants have decided to meet and to evaluate and determine what has to be done to prevent these kind of events in the future. Following the introduction of each participant, a discussion about the recent events started. Despite the fact that both care homes fulfilled the legal requirements, Melle suffered a loss of 9 and Genappe of 2 deaths.
The law prescribes that inhabitants need to be evacuated within 12 minutes, but following problems occur:
there are too few people present to evacuate the patients / inhabitants.
evacuation exercises are only done during the day, whereas fires usually occur during the night.
subsequently to point nr. 2., night personnel is not always trained.
fire doors are often open (e.g. high temperatures during summer time)
even if the fire brigade arrives within 12 minutes, they will not be able to immediately start fire fighting.
architect doesn’t have enough knowledge about fire protection
personnel could panic
the inhabitants could be confused
there can be different legislation for different regions
It is clear that today’s legislation is not sufficient to protect the lives of inhabitants of care homes against fire and smoke. The care home in Melle had 2 floors and despite the fact that it was situated in a domestic area, that neighbours rushed to help to evacuate and that the voluntary fire brigade arrived within 12 minutes; there were still 9 deaths.
Alan Brinson (AB) provided a short overview about the legislation in place inside and outside of Europe to inform the participants what other countries do and how far they have developed sprinkler protection in comparison to Belgium.
Martin Margodt (MM) said that the installation of sprinkler systems and smoke detectors can only be a success if these remain affordable. The treatment at intensive care in the centre for burn victims costs within 2 years € 250.000 per patient. There are 104.000 cases with burn wounds per year in Belgium of which a big part can be treated at home. A share of € 10.000 of the treatment needs to be paid by the patient, the rest is being covered by the Belgian state.
Erik de Smet (EDS) said that in comparison with the costs mentioned above, the costs for a sprinkler system in Belgium would be € 70/m² or as per AB in Europe € 1000 per person. Currently, there is no sprinkler standard for residential buildings available in Belgium. Therefore, the standard EN 12845 is being used which makes sprinkler installation more expensive than necessary. The Scandinavian countries have published their own standard, based on the American NFPA 13D and 13R; Great Britain as well has its own standard for sprinkler protection in residential buildings.
To encourage the installation of sprinkler systems, Scandinavia and the UK have “trade-off” recommendations. This could for example mean that when a sprinkler system is being installed, that it might not always be necessary to install a 2nd escape route in the building; which leads the building to have more usable surface. These “trade-off” recommendations provide more freedom with regards to use of construction material and design. Often a sprinkler system is paying for itself if trade-offs are being implemented.
Erik De Smet believes that there should be little resistance within the Ministry of Interior against the introduction of trade-offs and also the fire brigade could be expected to support this initiative. MM stated that when introducing “trade-offs” one need to prevent the different industries to start lobbying against each other in order for their products to remain included. The added value of a sprinkler installation and smoke detectors must remain.
As per François Asselman (FA) Agoria Fire Technologies (AFT) could be interested to participate in this initiative as long as there are no negative effects for other industries such as for example smoke detectors. He would contact Mrs Dominique du Tré (responsible for sector Fire Technologies) to this regard.
There is a wrong perception of sprinkler systems in the public opinion (e.g. that all sprinkler heads would activate simultaneously, or would be set off by smoke alone).
Therefore it would be useful – with the help of ANPI – to organize a sprinkler day and to show a demonstration of a sprinkler system fighting a fire.
Important participants at this event are:
- local, regional, federal politicians
- fire fighters from every region and province
- insurers
- the press
Following EDS and Hubert van der Snickt (HVDS), more needs to be done to promote sprinkler systems. Since 35 years – since sprinkler protection is mandatory- not a single fire in a warehouse has been reported. More communication from the industry about successful sprinkler stops could contribute positively.
A problem for Belgium is the split between the communities. The legislation about fire protection is partly regional, partly a federal responsibility. If the region is being governed by different political parties than the federal government, than that causes a communication problem which causes a delay in the legislation put into place.
There is a technical commission for fire protection with representatives from the fire brigade, the care homes and the touristic sector, but no experts from the industry. As a consequence, the Flemish government (as an example) listens to the fire brigade who is currently not very sprinkler minded.
FA believes that it is possible to submit a “request” to the Flemish Parliament to suggest the development of legislation. This “request” will then be submitted to a commission. MM is a member of this commission and will meet Friday, 8th December, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mrs Turtelboom as the responsibilities of the fire brigade need to be re-organized (more responsibilities for the fire brigade). He will use the occasion to inform the Minister about our initiative.
An angle to introduce automatic extinguishing systems into the legislation is to copy the legislation on environment and to stipulate that the “best available technology must be used”.
The discussion was followed by a presentation of Michel Delruelle (MD) from ANPI, who informed about the Belgian legislation and the use of sprinkler.
It was decided to meet again end of February / begin March 2010 to share additional information and to evaluate how much we have advanced with our action items (see below).
ACTION
BY
Send a pdf copy of the presentation to SF for distribution to participants.
AB
Send a pdf copy of the presentation to SF for distribution to participants
MD
Provide figure for cases per year of burn victims at intensive care
MM
Evaluation of organization of information day about residential sprinkles, providing of important contacts
MD alle
Information about procedure for “request” to the commission in the Flemish Parliament and info on status.
FA
Contact with ATF, Dominique du Tré, about interest to participate in this sprinkler initiative.
FA
List with contact details and names of organizations which also could be interested in this initiative
FA
Collecting and sharing information as a follow up to action items
SF
Organization of next meeting end February / begin March
November 11th 2009 9th Roundtable of EFA in Berlin
We were present on the 9th Roundtable of the European Fire Academy (EFA) in Berlin,from 11 until 12th of November.You can find information under www.europeanfireacademy.com/cms/show/id=710924Our secretay, Dominiek Viaene gived a briefng about the last EBCA 1 year later,userfiles/EBCA 1 year later.pd...
We were present on the 9th Roundtable of the European Fire Academy (EFA) in Berlin, from 11 until 12th of November. You can find information under www.europeanfireacademy.com/cms/show/id=710924
We are pleased to inform you about the European Fire Academy (EFA) 9th Roundtable that took place in Berlin from November 11th until the 12th.
We believe it was a very enriching meeting with a good exchange of views and information on how fire services work in our member states and on many fire safety issues.
Participating members of EBCA: Mr. Martin Margodt (president), Mr. Dominiek Viaene (member of the EBCA board) and Mr. Hubert Van Der Snickt (Office manager).
Day one:
After the instructive presentations about the fire organization in Poland, Berlin and Frankfurt and also the presentation of hotel evacuation research we were divided in tree workgroups.
Group 1 concerning statistics attended by Mr. Dominiek Viaene.
Items:
1. Understanding European fire statistics is there a case for harmonization? Very important item, because if the statistics of all our European organizations would have the same subdivision it would be easier to present a global European situation to the European parliament so that the members of the parliament could dispose of a clear situation about fire casualties without discussion.
2. German Fire Statistics & Investigation
3. EBCA presented the progress the association has made during the last months and their intentions to share their knowledge on best practices regarding information campaigns etc. In 2009, EBCA has focused on the start-up of the organization, the gathering of statistics on burn victims from a hospital point of view and has started a cooperation with Busworld on burn incidents in buses.
Group 2 concerning Domestic & Hotel Fire Prevention, attended by Mr. Hubert Van der Snickt
Items:
1. Reflections on the success of the UK Upholstered Furniture Regulations. This presentation showed us the significant need of the use of upholstered furniture. Some figures: in 1960: 388 fire casualties, in 1980: 822 fire casualties. Most important causes are smoke, heat and toxicity and the time between the ignition and the arrival of the fire brigade. By using upholstered furniture there is a very important reduction of smoke, heat and toxicity. Results in the UK in 2006: 363 fire casualties.
2. Consumer Fire Safety: European Statistics and Potential Fire Safety Measures
Group 3 concerning Communication to consumers & Vulnerable, attended by Mr. Martin Margodt
Items:
1. Community Fire Safety Guidance Principles The aim of this presentation is to make people within our community safer from fire and the risk from fire.
2. European Burns Casualties Association. We had the opportunity to present our “One Year of Progress” by Mr. Dominiek Viaene.
After the working groups there was also a presentation about European civil protection.
This presentation gave us a clear view how the community protection is organized in
Europe by disaster and the function of the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC).
Day two:
Presentations about: Fire Safety in high Rise Buildings, a system for tracking Fire Fighters and The European Fire Service Tunnel Group.
The meeting was closed with roundtable discussion and a point of view from EFA: EFA 2010 – Bridging to the new European Parliament.
Dear EBCA member, we hope that you feel that we try to defend the rights and the position of burned people in Europe. It is not an easy way but a long way to reach our goals. We thank you for your collaboration and the confidence you give us.
As you know we organized the first EBCA meeting during the EBA 2009 at Lausanne in Switzerland on the 4the of September and I can say, with great pleasure that it can be called a success.The announced countries were present, below you find the list of participants.The progress:By the President Mr. M...
As you know we organized the first EBCA meeting during the EBA 2009 at Lausanne in Switzerland on the 4the of September and I can say, with great pleasure that it can be called a success.
The announced countries were present, below you find the list of participants.
The progress:
By the President Mr. Margodt:
· Welcome and preface
· Why EBCA
· The existence of the website EBCA
· The intention to organize a EBCA meeting separate from EBA in Brussels for 1 day. Transport and lodging will be supported by EBCA.
The Vice-president explained why to continue with EBCA on a political level. It is to obtain in the future more involvement and recognition from the European politicians, and also to give more weight on the national activities of each national association towards national politicians.
By the EBCA administrator Mr. Dominiek Viaene:
· Presentation of EBCA (Briefing) om September 4th 2009 in Lausanne. ): What is EBCA, What has been done already? What comes in 2010 and What’s in it for you
Each present person presented her or himself and his organization.
Explanation by Mr. Rob Baardse of a new website in the Netherlands, www.burnsnetwork.org (still in construction), with main goal information and the possibility for everyone to put or to pick up information concerning burns
Question by Madam Petra Krause-Wloch concerning the older European (EFAB) Organization, what about the existence of that organization. Answer by Mr. Paul Villain why it will be stopped and that the older organisation will be officially stopped in the coming days.
Miss Hannelore Andries gave a presentation about The Psychosocial Intervention Plan in Belgium. Presentation in closure.
Mr. Alexandre Dubuis explained that he had the only organization in Switzerland who cares about burned people. He gave everyone a CD with prevention lessons in four languages and showed us a book with testimonials from burned people.
By Mr. Martin Margodt:
· He explained the possibility that each organization can become a member of EBCA by: - paying ONCE 100€ - will be invited to each EBCA meeting - receive every two months exclusive new information by mail - the members who were present on the first meeting EBCA on the 4th of September 2009 in Lausanne will receive 100CHF for the reimbursement of the badge. - may profit from everything that’s happens in Europe
· An invitation will be send to every organization in Europe to become member of EBCA.
· That the statutes and the goals of EBCA can be consulted on the website EBCA.
· That the report of this meeting will be placed on the website EBCA
· That the report of this meeting will be send to every organization in Europe
List of attendees of the Lausanne meeting on the 4th of September 2009:
Mr. Martin Margodt President EBCA Mr. Paul Villain Vice-President EBCA Mr. Dominiek Viaene administrator EBCA Miss Hannelore Andries from the Belgian Government of Health Mr. Alexandre Dubuis from the Swiss Flavie Mr. Gaël Blanchet from the Swiss Flavie Mr. Johan De Jager from the Belgische Brandwonden Stichting Mr Charly de Vuyst from the Belgische Brandwonden Stichting Mr. Koen Maertens from the Belgian OSCARE Mr. Rob Baardse from the Nederlandse Brandwondenstichting Madam Petra Krause-Wloch from Bundesverband für Brandverletzte e.V. Mr. Gaetano Esposito from the Italian Octopus Onlus Madam Els Vandermeulen Burns Psychologist of the Belgian Military Hospital in Brussels Mr. Hubert Van Der Snickt Office Manager EBCA
15th May 2009 8th Roundtable of the European Fire Academy (EFA) in London
We were present on the 8th Roundtable of the European Fire Academy (EFA) in London, from 13 until 14th of May. You can find from this meeting the Conclusions of the meeting, the briefing we gived and a list of the participants:userfiles/image/Conclusions of the 8th EFA Roundtable - 2 ...
We were present on the 8th Roundtable of the European Fire Academy (EFA) in London, from 13 until 14th of May.
