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2020 Annual Report • Fire Department • St. Anthony Village, Minnesota <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />17 | Page <br /> <br />V. Fire Prevention and Education <br />PUBLIC EDUCATION 2020 <br />By Lieutenant Mattie Jaros <br /> <br />Fire Prevention and Public Education is one of the foundations of the fire <br />service. Our mission has always been to protect property and save lives. Part <br />of that is to educate people on the dangers of fire. For the second year in a row, the State of <br />Minnesota saw an increase in fire deaths with 53 people dying last year. Partly, this could be <br />caused by the fact that fires do not behave that same way they did 15-20 years ago. With <br />construction and manufacturing changes, we have added more synthetic materials that burn <br />faster and hotter. The time that families have to get out of a home and to safety if fire occurs has <br />drastically decreased. It is our job to educate all ages of the danger of fire and how to prevent it <br />and safely get out of their home. <br /> <br />2020 was a difficult year for fire prevention and education. With the COVID-19 pandemic at our <br />door, we had to adapt with our normal teachings. As schools were moved to distance learning, <br />we found ourselves limited to how we could deliver public education messages. We relied <br />heavily on social media to get this job done. Consistently sharing informational articles and <br />creating videos that taught lessons on topics such as the dangers of fireworks and staying low <br />in fires, allowed us to reach a more considerable number of people. Some of our posts were <br />viewed over 28,000 times and have been shared hundreds of times. <br /> <br />We adapted certain lessons such as our CPR program. Each year we certify all the 9th graders at <br />the St. Anthony Village High School in adult, child, and infant CPR. We also educate them on <br />using an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED). The course run several days and in the end all <br />the 9th graders receive their certification, a requirement to graduate. This past year we were <br />unable to do that, instead we had to adapt with the online distance learning and hosted an <br />online CPR class for the students. <br />