Mount Prospect, IL - During Burn Awareness Week, which runs February 1-7, 2015, the nonprofit Illinois Fire Safety Alliance (IFSA) reminds Illinois residents to think about burn prevention in their daily lives.
Burn Awareness Week provides an opportunity for burn, fire and life safety educators to unite in sharing a common burn awareness and prevention message in their communities. While the topic for 2015 is scald prevention, the IFSA stresses the importance of fire safety, cooking safety, and other measures that prevent burns to infants, children and adults.
"Through public education, we can reduce the number of burn injuries and the associated medical costs being sustained by people in Illinois," says Philip Zaleski, Executive Director of the IFSA.
According to the American Burn Association (ABA), an estimated 450,000 burn injuries were treated throughout the United States in 2013 and approximately 40,000 hospitalizations were required for those burn injuries.
"Unfortunately, more than 3,000 people in the U.S. perish each year as a result of fires, burns, and scalding liquids," notes Zaleski. "For the 96% that survive their burn injury, physical, psychological, and emotional trauma may continue to be felt long past their initial recovery."
Since 1982, the IFSA has worked with local, state, and national groups and organizations to promote programs and distribute information related to fire safety and burn prevention, while also providing support programs for burn survivors.
The IFSA is most well-known for its "Camp I Am Me" burn camp for Illinois children ages eight to 16. The week-long camp will be commemorating its 25th anniversary in June. Also, the IFSA hosts an annual Young Adult Summit as an extension of burn camp for persons between the ages of 18 and 25 who have experienced a burn injury requiring outpatient treatment or hospitalization.
The third annual Young Adult Summit is a weekend retreat that will be hosted February 20-22. It consists of a variety of scheduled workshops and activities that support personal growth, emotional healing, school, career, relationships, and self-image. Topics include team building, finding strength from within, establishing self-acceptance, identifying one's potential, and adopting a sense of independence.
To view more of what the IFSA is doing to prevent burn injuries and to help burn survivors recover, please visit www.IFSA.org.
ABOUT THE ILLINOIS FIRE SAFETY ALLIANCE: Since 1982, the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance (IFSA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has been bringing together persons and groups with common interest in fire safety, burn prevention, and public education, and to promote programs and disseminate information related to fire safety and burn prevention. The IFSA also hosts burn survivor support programs including the Young Adult Summit and Camp "I Am Me," a unique week-long camp for children who have experienced severe burn injuries. Additional information on the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance can be found at www.IFSA.org.
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