NFPA Journal - Fall 2023 - 67

SUMMARIES OF NFPA REPORTS
AND FIRE PROTECTION RESEARCH
FOUNDATION PROJECTS
home oxygen therapy is unknown. However,
the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services has developed a new
tool known as the emPOWER map to
estimate the number of Medicare beneficiaries
who rely on electricity-dependent
durable medical and assistive equipment.
The map estimates that 887,000
Medicare beneficiaries required oxygen
equipment as of April 2023. When this
equipment is not used properly, patients
and others are at risk of fire, burns, and
property damage.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) administers the National
Electronic Injury Surveillance System
(NEISS) using a probability sample of
hospital emergency rooms. NEISS data
can be queried and downloadable files
can be generated for relevant cases. In
this analysis, queries were done on thermal
burns reported in the five calendar
years from 2017 to 2021. The category of
thermal burns included both burns from
fire and burns from contact with hot (or
very cold) objects such as stoves, heaters,
and irons. The narrative fields were
searched for the terms " oxygen " and " O2. "
Heat sources for medical oxygen burns
were identified using information from
the narratives and the product codes.
When the narrative and product codes
disagreed, the narrative information was
used. Total thermal burns from smoking
(cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and tobacco)
were identified by product code 1909
without further adjustments based on
the narratives.
Based on the NEISS data, an annual
estimated average of 1,041 burns related
to medical oxygen were seen in hospital
emergency rooms. These incidents
accounted for 1 percent of all the thermal
burns seen in hospital emergency departments.
Of these victims, 80 percent
suffered facial burns, while 61 percent
were either admitted or transferred to
another hospital, 1 percent were held for
observation, and 38 percent were either
treated and released or released without
treatment. The victims' ages ranged from
27 to 90, with a mean age of 64, and 66
percent were male.
Smoking materials were involved in
A civilian is killed in one out
of every three reported fires
where oxygen administration
equipment is involved.
59 percent of the medical oxygen-related
burns; cooking equipment was involved
in 18 percent, and candles were involved
in 10 percent. Cooking equipment in this
case includes any burn involving grills,
stoves, ovens, or microwaves, including
attempts to light gas grills. Four percent
of the burns occurred when the victims
were using grinding equipment.
Fire departments were present at only
15 percent of the incidents at which these
burns occurred. The fire department is
reported as not attending in 31 percent
of these incidents.
Key Statistics
The following national fire experience
statistics are estimates derived from version
5.0 of the U.S. Fire Administration's
National Fire Incident Reporting System
(NFIRS), as well as NFPA's annual survey
of U.S. fire departments.
During 2017-2021, oxygen administration
equipment was involved in an
estimated annual average of 228 home
fires reported to local fire departments,
resulting in an average of 96 civilian
deaths and 106 civilian injuries. These
fires accounted for 0.1 percent of the
reported home fires, 3.7 percent of the
home fire deaths, and 1.1 percent of the
reported home fire injuries.
On average, based on the projected
data, a civilian is killed at one of every
three fires reported to NFIRS in which
oxygen administration equipment was
involved. A civilian is injured at one of
every two such incidents.
When the heat source of a fire was
known, cigarettes provided the heat of
ignition in roughly three-fifths of these
fires, injuries, and deaths. Cigarette
lighters contributed to an additional
28 percent of injuries, 14 percent of
deaths, and 15 percent of fires. Matches
and lighters may have been used for
smoking-related activities or other purposes.
Hot embers or ashes provided the
heat in 7 percent of the fires and injuries.
Arcing was the heat source in 2 percent
of these fires and 3 percent of the deaths.
Fires beginning in either the bedroom
or in the living room, family room, or
den accounted for most of these incidents
and casualties. The bedroom was the
leading area of origin for these fires, with
bedroom fires causing the most civilian
injuries and the second-most deaths,
while fires in the living room, family
room, or den ranked first in civilian
deaths and second in number of fires and
civilian injuries. Fires in kitchens ranked
fourth in civilian deaths. In home fires
overall, the kitchen was the leading area
of origin for home structure fires and
home structure fire injuries even when
confined cooking fires were excluded.
Three-fifths of the home fire deaths in
which oxygen administration equipment
was involved resulted from fires reported
between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. In contrast,
only one-third of all the home fire deaths
resulted from fires reported during this
same 12-hour period.
In 2021, attached or detached single-family
dwellings or manufactured
homes accounted for 81 percent of the
households with one or more members
of at least 65 years of age. Seventy
percent of oxygen administration equipment
fires and 84 percent of the civilian
deaths caused by such fires occurred in
one- and two-family dwellings, including
manufactured homes. It is important to
remember that these percentages are
calculated using a very small number of
incidents, and the data shows that 16 percent
of oxygen-related deaths occurred in
apartment or multifamily dwelling fires.
However, the data does suggest that the
majority of home oxygen use is occurring
in one- and two-family homes, the least
regulated properties. Property managers
in rental housing can try to enforce safety
NFPA.ORG/MEDICALOXYGEN
Read the complete report on
fires and burns involving home
medical oxygen.
NFPA .ORG/JOURNAL * NFPA JOURNAL | 67
http://www.NFPA.ORG/MEDICALOXYGEN http://nfpa.org/journal
NFPA Journal - Fall 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Fall 2023
