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FEMA: Establishing a relationship between alcohol and casualties of fire
Oct. 1999

I. Executive summary

1. What percentage of adult fire fatalities were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the fire?
2. Do studies confirm that countries with the highest alcohol consumption rates also have the highest fire death rates?

1. What three aspects or results of alcohol consumption lead to an increased rate of unintentional injury?
2. What is the estimated percentage of residential fire deaths in which alcohol is involved?

1. What is the component of alcoholic beverages (e.g., wine, beer) that is responsible for their physiologic effects and that is considered the "most commonly used mood-altering drug in the United States"?

1. What is the estimated percentage of adult trauma patients in the US whose injuries are related to alcohol rather than to illness?
2. In the US, what are the five leading causes of unintentional injury?
3. According to the Toronto study, how many times higher is the fire death risk of alcoholics compared to the rest of the population?
4. Why is alcohol use correlated with infectious complications of burns?
5. What is the relationship between alcohol use and smoke injuries?

1. Explain the significance of the following excerpt from the reading: "Records of fire fatalities of all ages were retrospectively examined for the nearly 30 percent of fire victims who tested positive for BALs of any concentration. Of these victims, 58 percent were between the ages of 21 and 50. That very same year, the National Center for Health Statistics reported that only 37 percent of all fire fatalities were age 21 to 50."
2. What is the relationship between smoking and alcohol consumption, as it relates to fire?

VII. Smoke alarms and the alcohol-impaired fire casualty

1. According to the study by Runyan et al., which is more risky in terms of fire fatality: being alcohol-impaired or living without a smoke alarm?

1. According to Table 1 (PDF page 28, document page 25), what percentage of "alcohol-impaired casualties" were "deaths"?
2. According to Figure 4 (PDF page 34, document page 31), what is the leading cause of alcohol-impaired fire death?

1. What percentage of fire fatalities in the Minnesota study who were over 15 tested positive for alcohol use at the time of their death?

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