Nurses have always been instrumental in health promotion activities. As a profession, nurses are well suited to lead collaborative community engaged public health activities. Collaboration is an essential driver of community health promotion with the ability to improve population health outcomes (Harper, et.al., 2014). According to Roberts and Jumpper-Black (2016), inclusion of key community stakeholders is critical in all level of the collaborative process. To address CO awareness, a nurse advocate gathered community stakeholders to discuss possible interventions. Multi-sectoral participants included the state fire marshal office, fire chiefs and educators from surrounding communities, the American Red Cross, local legislators, retail restaurant owners, academic nurse faculty, and a non-profit foundation. Together, a plan was developed to address public awareness and home safety related to carbon monoxide. To implement this shared vision, continued collaboration as well an engaged community would be necessary over the next 1-2 years. Communities, due to their intimate character, have the capacity to promote, accept, and sustain health initiatives (Simoes and Sumaya, 2010).
Methods: “Empowered groups and communities plan, enact, and evaluate interventions that affect their collective groups” (Roberts and Jumpper-Black, 2016, p88). Multiple organizations and six communities collaborated to implement a blitz program to assess homes, inform residents, install CO and smoke alarms where necessary at no cost, and protect residents. Each of the six cities’ fire chiefs were surveyed for their CO needs. Funding was gained to support equipment and educational materials through grants and donations. Each community pooled its resources and networks to perform a 6 separate one-day blitz events in targeted neighborhoods to install 1000 CO alarms. Community networks included fire departments, fire marshals, sororities, civic organizations, neighborhood associations, Boy Scouts of America, American Red Cross volunteers, public safety officials, city administrators, nurses, police, food retailers, family members, the governor’s office, home supply retailers, and many more.
Evaluation: Since CO detectors were not required by law in homes, there is no data on CO detector usage, knowledge, or effectiveness. To address this, a brief survey was included for each home that was entered to gather information. Basic demographic information was gathered regarding number of persons living in the home and their ages. Information about the home included: type of home, type of heat used, number of levels, and number of CO alarms installed.
Additionally, 4-6 months after installation, follow up surveys were conducted on 25% of the homes were CO detectors were installed to evaluate the education provided about carbon monoxide.
Results: During the one-day blitz events, 420 CO alarms were installed. Each of the communities continued to assess homes and install the remaining CO alarms at no cost. Follow up surveys revealed that all homes still had working alarms and respondents knew what to do if it alerts. 1000 families are now CO aware. Communities remain engaged in addressing awareness to prevent poisonings and deaths.