Our prevention work is all about keeping our most vulnerable people safe, and getting extra support for those who need it from our many partner organisations. We think of it as ‘upstream firefighting’. The same firefighters who respond to 999 emergencies carry out thousands of ‘Safe and Well’ visits every year. They give advice on health and wellbeing where it will lessen the risk of a fire. But prevention extends well beyond the home.
We provide fire safety education to thousands of schoolchildren and college students. And we have specialist prevention and partnership teams who support our firefighters in reducing anti-social behaviour such as arson, and improving road safety.
Our prevention priorities focus on making safer, healthier communities:
- the number of people killed or seriously injured by fire-related incidents will reduce as we focus, with our partners, on the risks faced by the most vulnerable people in our communities
- arson-related incidents will fall, supporting safer and stronger communities,as a result of our partnership working
- fewer people will be killed or seriously injured on West Midlands roads, as we work with the West Midlands Combined Authority and other organisations to develop and deliver interventions that support the West Midlands Regional Road Safety Strategy
- the safety, health and well-being of the most vulnerable people in our communities will improve through our interventions delivered to tackle the effects of an increasing demand on health and social care services.
