37 - Wednesday, October 4, BER 8-14 1989 | 1989 - North Shore News One in four fires occurs in the kitchen ONE IN every four fires in one- and two-family residences in Brit- ish Columbia in 1988 was caused by cooking accidents. The Fire Prevention Cana.a (Fiprecan) Association offers these tps to prevent kitchen fires: e Never overheat or leave cooking fats unattended. e If grease in a pot or pan catches fire, turn off the heat, then smother the flame by covering the pan with a suitable lid — which you should always keep readily available. Watch out for yourself and your clothing. elf the fire should ignite nearby combustibles or threaten to spread, get everyone out of the building and give the alarm. Close the kitchen and entrance doors; and call the fire department. © Never cisk carrying out a burning pan, Never use walter on grease fires. ¢ Make sure all electrical appli- ances and tools have a_ testing agency label and have -pliances tepaived if they aren’. working properly. * Don’t overload electrical outlets. *® Don’t store things over the stove. People get burned reaching. ¢ Turn pot handles so children Firefighters deal with emotions From page 31 are we going to do? Sit around and hold hands?”’ Nevertheless, Ramszy estimates 86 per cent of emergency workers will go through CIS, and he is working to set up teams of volun- teers trained in CIS debriefing to visit departments or individuals who have been on a tough call. CIS debriefing is a process de- veloped by Mitchell to deal with traumatic experiences in a healthy way, rather than suppressing the emotions associated with the inci- dent. The first step is to gather the firefighters together within three peer debriefers and a mental health professional. Then the firefighters discuss what they saw and how they fe: at the time and how it’s affecting them now. Through this process they'll learn that they are not alone and that what they feel is a normal reaction. Finally, the group will discuss how !ong they can expect to expe- rience CIS and how to handle it until it goes away. Ramsay says the debriefing ses- sions are extremely emotional. Many firefighters relive the call, especially if they’ve worked on a person who later died or they feel they failed. debriefing sessions aren't a critique of the firefighter’s performance; they deal with the emotions im- mediately after the incident. He says he wishes attendance at such sessions were mandatory. The department only recemsnends ai- tendance in the case of the death or serious injury of a co-worker. Canada is slow to pick up on CIS; it has been accepted in the United States for cight ycars. Alberta is at the forefront, primarily because of ihe Hinton rail disaster and the 1987 tornado. Ramsay says he'd like to see the philosophy adopted here so firefighters can maintain produc- tive careers as well as their emo- can’t pull them down. * Wear tight sleeves when you cook. Loose-fitting garments can catch fire. CONSULT THE EXPERTS H2O FIRE SYSTEMS LTD. ® Installation of automatic fire sprinklers ® Residential, commercial, industrial @ Service maintenance specialists e 24 hour emergency service days of the incident to talk with But Ramsay says the CIS __ tional well-being. MULTI-BULK FAST TURNAROUND PROVIDING VANCOUVER WiTH FULL MULTI-BULK HANDLING FACILITIES DRY BULK FERTILIZERS SULPHUR POTASH PHOSPHATE ROCK * LIQUIDS * CONCENTRATES ° PULP & PAPER ° CONTAINERS * GENERAL CARGO EASY ACCESS FOR DEEP-SEA VESSELS, RAIL, TRUCKS, & BARGES. VANCOUVER WHARVES LTD. 1995 West ‘ist Street North Vancouver, B. C. Canada V7P 1A8 Telephone (604) 985-3177 Telex: 04-352568 Cable: Van Whar Facs: (604) 980-5213