Risk Watch "Saves" and "Success" are case histories of actual incidents in which the knowledge gained from Risk Watch has been put into action.

• A "Save" occurs when an individual's actions, learned from Risk Watch, result in the preservation of human life, or whose positive intervention has prevented or minimized a potentially harmful situation.
• A "Success" occurs when an individual's actions, learned from Risk Watch, reduce the dangers of a potentially harmful situation.

If a "Save" or "Success" has occurred in your community, tell us about it. Complete a Risk Watch Success Incident Report form and return it to NFPA. For each documented "Save" or "Success," you'll receive a special certificate to present to your local hero.

Certificate for Risk Watchers!

Saves!
Bloomfield, MI Dover, DE Wishek, ND Elizabeth City, NC Glenwood, IL Cheswold, DE Cold Spring, KY Decatur, GA Midwest City, OK Glenwood, IL Pittsburg, NH Brandon, FL College Station, TX Kannapolis, NC Hallstead, PA Old Town, ME Port Orchard, WA Trussville, AL Loretto, TN Sudbury, MA Woonsocket,RI Plano, TX Lake Stevens, WA Wauconda, IL Colorado Springs, CO	Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma City, OK Brockville, Ontario Everett, WA Ponca City, OK Dover, NH Lynn, MA Brampton, Ontario Woodward, OK

Risk Watch Save!

Bloomfield, MI

Seven year old Malcolm Clark knew just what to do when his mother lost consciousness after a fall down a flight of stairs.

Remembering what he had been taught in school in a special Risk Watch program taught by the Bloomfield Township Fire Department, he called 9-1-1 and calmly gave the dispatcher the necessary information –all while comforting his frightened 23-month old brother.

Risk Watch is taught as a nine-week course presented to 2nd grade students in the Bloomfield Hills Schools and taught by Bloomfield Township Fire Inspector Peter Vlahos.

Risk Watch Save!

Dover, DE
Fabien Perry and his baby sister, Ariana were driving in the car with their grandmother, Gloria DeNigris when she became dizzy. Ms. DeNigris was able to pull the car over to the side of the road before she blacked out. Ten-year old Fabien put his Risk Watch knowledge into action and grabbed his grandmother’s cell phone and called 9-1-1 for help. He was able to work with the dispatcher to figure out where the car was located. The ambulance arrived and his grandmother was taken to the local hospital where she was treated for a minor stroke.

Fabien was taught how to dial 9-1-1 by his fourth grade teacher Phyllis Simon at the North Dover Elementary School. He is continuing his Risk Watch lessons in fifth grade.

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Risk Watch Save!

Wishek, ND
Eleven-year-old Justin Deede was walking home from a friend’s house on January 23, 2005, when he heard Harold Mensing, 74, calling for help. Mensing had slipped on the ice and was unable to get up. “He told me he couldn’t move,” said Justin. “He thought he had a broken bone or something.”

Justin ran to a nearby home and asked them to call 9-1-1 while he returned to wait with Mensing. The paramedics responded and Mensing was taken to the hospital and treated for a broken leg.

Justin says Risk Watch helped him know what to do when he heard Mensing’s calls. “I saw that he was hurt and realized right away that someone had to call 9-1-1,” he told local paper, The Wishek Star. Justin is a sixth grade student at the Wishek Elementary School.

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Risk Watch Save!

Elizabeth City, NC
When seven-year-old Shevonda Joyner came home from school on January 7, 2004, she found her great-grandmother, 68-year-old Thelma Joyner, disoriented and confused. Knowing that something was wrong, Shevonda ran to the next door neighbor and called 9-1-1. The paramedics responded and Thelma was taken to the hospital and treated for diabetes shock.

Shevonda’s quick action was credited to her participation in the Risk Watch program at the P.W. Moore Elementary School. Her teacher, Miriam Noble, brings the Risk Watch program to students in kindergarten, first and second grades. Noble has also helped to implement the program in upper elementary grades. The Risk Watch implementation in Elizabeth City was made possible with funding NFPA received through the FIRE Act grant.

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Risk Watch Save!

Glenwood, IL
Nine-year-old Jabari Henderson has been credited with saving his grandfather’s life because he knew how to respond in an emergency. On May 14, 2004, he walked into the kitchen and found his 67-year-old grandfather, Jesse Coleman, experiencing a seizure. At the time of the incident, Jabari was home alone with his grandfather and younger brother, Javaris.

The fourth grader immediately called 9-1-1 and requested an ambulance. When the paramedics arrived, he asked for identification before letting them in the home. He then assisted them by retrieving his grandfather’s medications. Jesse Coleman was taken to the hospital were he spent several days.

Jabari was taught Risk Watch at the Hickory Bend Elementary School in conjunction with the Glenwood Fire Department. He has been using the Risk Watch program since kindergarten. Responding to emergency situations and calling 9-1-1 has been covered in his class each year.

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Risk Watch Save!

Cheswold, DE
On an April 21, 2004, visit with her grandfather 10-year-old Sarah Caldwell was able to put her Risk Watch knowledge into action. Sarah, her mother, Juliette Caldwell, and younger sister Selena went to visit her grandfather, Louis Caldwell Sr., who wasn’t feeling well. While sitting with him, the 67-year-old slumped over, started vomiting and was having trouble breathing. Sarah immediately called her mother into the room. Mrs. Caldwell instructed her to take her little sister into the other room.

Sarah proceeded to call 9-1-1 and calmly tell the operator that her grandfather was diabetic and was having trouble breathing. She stayed on the phone and provided all the necessary information. The paramedics responded quickly and Mr. Caldwell was taken to the hospital where he was treated for a bleeding ulcer and high blood sugar.

Sarah was taught Risk Watch by third grade teacher Phyllis Simon at the Fairview Elementary School. She has been using the Risk Watch program since first grade. Responding to emergency situations and calling 9-1-1 has been covered in her class each year.

“I feel good about it, that he is still here. I hope other children learn to stay calm like Risk Watch teaches,” Sarah told local paper, The Dover Post.

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Risk Watch Save!

Cold Spring, KY
Ten-year-old Chelsea Deaton woke up coughing from smoke at 1 a.m. on November 10, 2003. She immediately jumped out of bed and ran across the hall to wake up her two younger sisters, Shelby, 7, and Ivy, 2. She ushered both of them back to her bedroom where she shut the door to slow the smoke, she then pushed open the screen window and pushed her sisters out of the first floor window where they landed in the bushes below. The girls then ran to a neighbor’s home to call the fire department. The children were taken to the hospital were they were treated for smoke inhalation. Chelsea later told Central Campbell County Fire District Chief Gerald Sandfoss, that she did what she was taught at school.

Chelsea had learned about fire safety, which included developing an escape plan in the classroom, only 12 days earlier when firefighters from the Central Campbell County Fire District, came to her classroom as part of the school's Risk Watch program. Shelby has also had Risk Watch lessons.

Note: The home had no smoke alarms. Later investigations found the cause of the fire to have been discarded smoking materials, which the mother had placed in the trash earlier that night. The children's mother was not home at the time of the fire. According to the local paper, she has been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for leaving the children home alone and DUI.

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Risk Watch Save!

Decatur, GA
April 30, 2003 -- The Milling family was eating dinner when seven-year-old DeAnthony's older brother, Demetrius, started to choke on a piece of bacon. DeAnthony immediately rushed to his brother's side and performed the Heimlich maneuver. Within a few seconds, Demetrius coughed up the piece of bacon. DeAnthony learned the Heimlich maneuver as part of the choking, suffocation and strangulation unit of Risk Watch at the Leslie J. Steele Elementary School.

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Risk Watch Save!

Midwest, OK
March 28, 2003 -- As eight-year-old Ciara Mitchell watched her classmate Danielle Reames choke on a piece of candy, she remembered what her principal, Kevin Hill, told her class about the Heimlich maneuver. She didn't waste anytime putting her Risk Watch lesson into action."She (Danielle) was turning blue...she was hitting another kid in the back because she couldn't breathe," Ciara told local paper the Midwest City Sun. "I didn’t' think about anything, I just did it," she said.Ciara was taught the life-saving technique at the Ridgecrest Elementary School by third grade teacher Ruth Henderson. In addition, Principal Hill went to each classroom and discussed safety measures and the Heimlich as a result of a local girl choking to death at a nearby school in March 2003.

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Risk Watch Save!

Glenwood, IL
August 12, 2003 --Thanks to seven-year-old Gerry Melendez and his Risk Watch lessons, being safely buckled up has become a habit in his family. So when his family was involved in a car crash everyone walked away uninjured. Gerry learned his life-saving skills from first grade teacher Amy Hein at the Hickory Bend Elementary School in Glenwood, Illinois. During the school year he received a booster seat from Ms. Hein, who makes them available to all her students every year. Gerry went a step further and requested, and received, a safety seat for his one-year-old sister, Ruby. At the time of the crash, Gerry and Ruby were safely buckled in their respective booster and safety seats. Their parents, Ruben and Carol, and uncle, Cesar Quiroga, were also wearing their safety belts (thanks to Gerry's persistence). The family, en route to their yearly vacation in Mexico, was traveling through an intersection when a pick-up truck whose driver had gone through a stop sign hit them. Although no one was hurt, the Melendez's car was totaled.

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Risk Watch Save!

Pittsburg, NH
On February 1, 2003, Logan Chase used skills learned from Risk Watch to save his mom's life. Kim Chase was in the bathroom getting ready for a meeting while having a quick snack of egg noodles. When one of the noodles lodged in her throat she tried to stay calm and remove it. She tried, unsuccessfully, to self-induce the Heimlich maneuver by throwing herself against the bathtub and sink. After hearing the noise, Logan came in to find his mom turning blue and blacking out. He told her not to worry -- he knew what to do. The five-foot one-inch tall nine-year-old, calmly got behind her and performed the Heimlich maneuver. After two tries, the noodle finally came out. Logan was taught the Heimlich maneuver at the Pittsburg School by EMTs Jill Young and Paula Chapple as part of the choking, strangulation and suffocation unit of Risk Watch. "(Risk Watch) is a really good program," Mrs. Chase told the local paper. "I just want to let everyone know how good...I can't believe how calm he was. I really didn't think I was going to make it."

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Risk Watch Save!

Brandon, FL
In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season it is important to keep fire safety in mind. Christine Chasse found out the hard way when getting ready for a holiday party on December 20, 2002. A plastic container, which had been left in the oven while cleaning, ignited when the oven was turned on. Luckily, Christine’s five-year-old son, Isaac, knew what to do. When Christine walked into the smoke-filled kitchen and opened the oven and found flames she started to scream. Isaac, who was playing with his seven-month-old baby sister, Leah, heard his mom and ran into the room to see what was wrong. When he saw the smoke he immediately left the room. Christine was calling 9-1-1 when her husband, Joseph, came in and put the fire out with a fire extinguisher. Christine went to get the kids out of the house and discovered Isaac was already outside with his sister. He told his mom that when he saw the smoke and heard the smoke alarms he knew he had to get out of the house. So he picked up his sister and got out! He then told her that she should have done the same thing and not tried to put the fire out.
"Luckily for me, Isaac was calm under pressure and acted quickly, because in reality the fire could have gotten much worse," Christine said. "I was proud of Isaac because he did exactly what he learned in school." As a result of the fire, the Chasse family now have developed and practiced an escape plan together. Isaac was taught Risk Watch at the Children's Academy by teacher Janice Mitchell. Risk Watch was launched in the community in September 2002 after the Hillsborough County Fire and Rescue received a Risk Watch Champion Mentorship Grant from NFPA. The grant was made possible through FEMA and the U.S. Fire Administration's historic FIRE Act grant program.

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Risk Watch Save!

College Station, TX
August 30, 2002 -- As a faculty member at the College Hill Elementary School, a Risk Watch school in College Station, TX, Diane Walter knew the importance of bike helmets. Diane strictly enforced the 'no helmet, no ride' rule with her own three children, including 13-year-old son Mick. Diane was firm with her son that if he didn't wear his helmet, he wouldn't be allowed to ride his bike to school. After much discussion, Mick agreed. While riding home with a friend, Mick was hit by a car and thrown to the pavement hitting his head. The force of the impact caused Mick's shoe to end up in the middle of the five-lane street and totaled his bike. "My son was able to walk away from this incident with only bruises and scrapes because he was wearing his bike helmet," said Diane. "I feel the Risk Watch program is such an important part of teaching safety to our kids. I hope my son's story can be told to other students to impress upon them the importance of bike helmets. And, yes, it can happen to them," Diane added.

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Risk Watch Save!

Kannapolis, NC
On the night of December 16, 2002, four-year-old Rahman Carney escaped serious injury when his home was destroyed by fire. The fire apparently started in Rahman's bedroom when covers from his bed fell onto a lamp and ignited. Awakened by the smoke alarm, he quickly got out of the room. Rahman ran into the hallway and met the rest of his family, who also had been awakened by the smoke alarms. Rahman's parents, Frederick and Kristina, his three-year-old sister, Rhamyyah, and another person staying at the home, Demont Byers, all escaped the home safely.
While interviewing the family, Shane Pethel a fire investigator with the Kannapolis Fire Department, noticed the bottom of Rahman's slippers were burned. Rahman had been wearing thick socks and slippers to bed because he had stepped on a Christmas ornament and injured his foot. "He was lucky," Pethel told the local paper. "When you look at his slippers, both the bottoms had been burned down to the socks, so his feet were on fire while he was in bed, "said Pethel.

Rahman later told his teacher that he remembered what his teachers and the firefighter had told him and he knew he needed to get low, get outside and not to hide. Rahman also said that he knew not to be afraid of the firefighters and not to take anything with him -- just get out. He added that although he knew how to stop, drop, and roll he didn't have to use it.
Randy Frazier of the Kannapolis Fire Department, along with McKnight Head Start teachers, taught Rahman fire safety through the Risk Watch program. Risk Watch is currently being taught in eight schools in the community through the Kannapolis Fire Department.

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Risk Watch Save!

Hallstead, PA
On the evening of October 6, 2002, 10-year-old Whitman Dixon and his seven-year-old sister Samantha used the knowledge they learned from Risk Watch to escape a devastating fire in their mobile home. Samantha and Whitman's mother, Mary, discovered the fire when she smelled smoke and immediately woke the children up. The children stayed calm as they put their escape plan into action. The door was blocked by fire so the family used their second way out, through a bedroom window. Once outside, Mary called 9-1-1. The Dixon's home was completely destroyed; the cause of the fire was undetermined. The entire family escaped safely because they had discussed what to do in case of a fire and had a plan. Whitman and Samantha were taught Risk Watch at the Choconut Valley Elementary School by teachers Patricia Todd and Jessie Puzo. The town of Hallstead is one of several communities served by the Choconut Valley School, which is one of the five sites in the 2002 Risk Watch Champion Management Team pilot program in Pennsylvania.

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Risk Watch Save!

Old Town, ME
On the afternoon of October 29, 2002, 12-year-old Matt Thebarge used the lessons he learned in Risk Watch to help save his brother's life. Matt's 10-year-old brother Josh was sucking on a jawbreaker candy when it became lodged in his throat. Matt immediately began to do the Heimlich maneuver, while the boys' mother called 9-1-1. After three attempts, Matt cleared Josh's airway. Although he was no longer choking when the rescue personnel arrived, Josh was taken to the hospital for further evaluation. Matt later told his mother that he learned how to do the Heimlich in health class and had also seen it on TV. Risk Watch was incorporated into the health curriculum in Old Town, Maine, in 2001 after Assistant Fire Chief James Lavoie of the Old Town Fire Department met with the school system's curriculum coordinator about the program. Currently, Risk Watch is being taught in 38 classrooms from kindergarten to fifth grade in the community.

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Risk Watch Save!

Port Orchard, WA
October 20, 2002--The following incident was taken directly from seven-year-old Isabella Thaxton’s diary. Isabella is a second grade student at the South Colby Elementary School in Port Orchard, WA:

"Last night was really scary. Could have died age:7, months:4, weeks:0 saying: I'm too young to die. P.S. I am ya know. Anyways, I was watching TV and dad was on the computer. In the kitchen, chicken nuggets and stuff boiling in the pot on the stove. And then the trouble started. The smoke detector was going off, I was really scared. Smoke was in every room of the house. Dad got the potholder, smart but hot stuff came out and daddy got the biggest blisters in the world! I crawled all the way to the door and out of it. And daddy took it out of the house and covered it with dirt (see Risk Watch Teaching Point below). P.S. My dad had to repaint the kitchen and he is going to the doctor and that is really scary to know he could have been killed. The end. If you are caught in a fire and you can't breathe get down on the floor on your hands and knees! Crawl low under smoke you will find clean air; crawl low under smoke and get out of there on your hands and knees like a dog in a chase crawl low under smoke and leave that place." Isabella's class was taught the fire prevention component of Risk Watch days before this incident occurred. "Fire safety education served its purpose. A child was empowered with the knowledge needed to act to preserve her life and well being, " said Sarah Simmons, Isabella's second grade teacher. The Risk Watch program has been in the community since 1998 under the leadership of Public Education Officer Lisa Kirkemo (a 1995 NFPA Champion) of the Kitsap Fire Department. South Colby Elementary has been a Risk Watch school since 2000.

Risk Watch Teaching Point: Never leave cooking food unattended on the stove top, and keep a close eye on food cooking inside the oven. Always keep a potholder, oven mitt and lid handy. If a small grease fire starts in a pan, put on an oven mitt and smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan. Turn off the burner. Don't remove the lid until it is completely cool. Never lift a burning pan from the stove. If you are not able to extinguish the fire immediately, leave the home and call the fire department from outside the home.

Risk Watch Save!

Trussville, AL
Jenna Bishop and Lindsay Foster, both 15 years old, were passengers in a serious car crash when lights from an oncoming car blinded the driver of the car causing the car to hit a power pole and roll over. Their car was totaled. Luckily both girls, and the 19-year-old driver, were wearing their safety belts. The Trussville Fire & Rescue members arrived to find Jenna and Lindsay shaken but uninjured. "If it had not been for you coming to our school and teaching us about motor vehicle safety, we would not have been wearing our safety belts," Lindsey told a firefighter at the scene. Both girls told firefighters that they had not worn their safety belts before participating in the Risk Watch® program.
The Trussville Fire Department has been teaching Risk Watch in local elementary, middle and junior high schools since 1999 through a grant from the Alabama Fire College (lead agency for the Alabama Champion Management Team established in 2000).

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Risk Watch Save!

Loretto, TN
Risk Watch training made all the difference for third grade teacher Shelly Fisher when student, Jamie Mattox, choked on a fruit-roll-up. After returning from a classroom break, Fisher noticed something in Jamie's mouth and asked her to spit it out. "When she (Jamie) turned from the garbage can, I knew it was lodged in her throat," Fisher told the Lawrence County Advocate. "I asked her if she could talk to me and she couldn't, she just shook her head. So, I did the Heimlich maneuver. After about two or three times she had it in her hand." As part of the school's Risk Watch program, nurses had demonstrated the Heimlich maneuver to teachers and students just a week before the incident occurred.

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Risk Watch Save!

Sudbury, MA
In the early morning hours of January 6, 2002, the Strait family was awakened by the sound of their smoke alarms and banging pipes. An electrical fire in the basement had shorted the hard-wired smoke alarms in the home, filling the basement and main floor with smoke. The intense smoke triggered the battery-operated smoke alarms outside the family members' bedrooms. The Straits immediately put their escape plan into action. Eight-year-old Greg and his mom crawled low under smoke and out the front door. His two teenage sisters, Julie and Laura, went with their dad out a second route through the kitchen. Once at their outside meeting place, the family took a head count and called the fire department. The fire was put out quickly, although the house suffered severe damage from the smoke. Firefighter and Fire Safety Educator Kevin Moreau, an NFPA Risk Watch Champion who responded to the scene said, "Without that working battery-operated smoke alarm they probably wouldn't have lived." When asked how her family knew what to do Mrs. Strait said, "Greg made us do it. Every year the kids bring home the assignment to draw the escape map and check smoke alarms and every year my husband and I would roll our eyes...last September Greg insisted that we needed to do his map and escape plan as part of the school's Risk Watch program. So we did it and it really helped us the morning of the fire." The family cat was even saved because the Strait's knew the importance of closing doors behind them. Greg was taught Risk Watch as part of the Sudbury School's Wellness curriculum in conjunction with the Sudbury Fire Department.

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Risk Watch Save!

Lynn, MA
On December 30, 2000, 10-year-old Ryan Boda and his 6-year-old brother Steven got in the car with their father. When Steven refused to put on his safety belt, Ryan tried to explain to him why wearing a safety belt is so important. After much discussion, Ryan took matters into his own hands and buckled up his little brother. Immediately after, Ryan, Steven and their father, were involved in a minor car crash. Due to Ryan's persistence no one was injured. Ms. Olmstead, the boys' mother, said that although the car crash was only a small "bumper bender," it taught Steven an important lesson. Since the crash, Steven always puts his safety belt on without his big brother having to tell him. Ryan was taught Risk Watch by fourth grade teacher Mrs. Mendel at the St. Christopher School in Nashua, NH, and the Nashua Fire Department.

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Risk Watch Save!

Brampton, Ontario
On March 7, 2001, sixth grader Junior Bailey put his Risk Watch knowledge into action…in his classroom. Junior’s class was busy doing an assignment when classmate Michael Gale began to choke on a coin that he was playing with. Junior, who was sharpening his pencil, walked by Michael's desk and noticed him choking. He immediately performed the Heimlich maneuver and dislodged the coin. When asked how he felt about what he did, Junior said he was proud of himself but scared that it wouldn’t work. Junior was taught the Heimlich maneuver during a Risk Watch lesson taught by Diane Farley a registered nurse and teaching assistant at the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Public School.

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Risk Watch Save!

Woodward, OK
On December 20, 2000, Kendra McCoy and Jon Thomas used the skills they learned from Risk Watch, to help their family escape a home fire. While watching television, Kendra noticed smoke coming from a lamp and quickly alerted her parents, John and Retha. While both parents went to investigate the cause of the smoke, Kendra, 8, and Jon, 10, jumped into action. Following the home escape plan the family had previously developed, Kendra and Jon helped older sister Ashland, and younger brother Freddy, safely out of the home and to their outside meeting place. After discovering a fire in the family’s laundry room, Retha and John quickly joined the children outside and waited for the fire department. Although the home suffered extensive damage, the entire family escaped safely. The family had planned and practiced a home fire escape plan as a result of Risk Watch being taught in Kendra’s second grade class, and Jon’s fourth grade class at the Cedar Heights Elementary School. "I am so pleased with the program," said Retha McCoy. "Jon and Kendra weren’t scared and didn’t panic, they knew what to do."

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