Bottom Line: What Would You Ask the Presidential Candidates?

By Patricia Adkins, Chief Operating Officer
Home Safety Council
March 2008

With the Presidential election around the corner, the Home Safety Council submitted a candidate questionnaire earlier this year to Republican and Democratic hopefuls to find out where they stand on a variety of home safety and preparedness issues. 

Before sending the questionnaire to the campaigns, HSC circulated a survey to Expert Network members soliciting their feedback on our questions.  We wanted to know what home safety issues were of most importance to them and what additional questions they suggest we pose to candidates.

Response Rate, Demographics, Geographic Reach, and Interests
The Expert Network survey represents a snapshot of the demographic make up of the Network, its extensive geographic reach, and a gauge of the members’ positions on a variety of national and local policy issues.

HSC received 470 responses with representation from almost every state.  Here’s whom we heard from: 

Respondent Ages

• Largest age group:  46-55 at 34% 
• Second largest:  35-45 at 29%

Geographic Distribution 

• Representation from almost every state in US
• Most representation from the Northeast, Midwest and South
• Good representation from the West and less from the Southwest

Respondent Occupation 

1. Majority of respondents work in fire services, including fire educators and fire marshals
2. A large number of respondents work as safety educators, teachers, and in adult education
3. Also diverse professions including private sector, medicine and even clergy

Here are some of the results:

Areas of Interest (more than one choice) 

1. A majority of respondents (nearly 61%) is interested in all of HSC’s issue areas
2. A large group (43%) indicates fire and burns as an area of interest
3. 39% are interested in emergency preparedness
4. Interest in falls prevention comes in at nearly 21%
5. 16% are concerned about choking hazards

Policy Priorities

When asked to submit an additional question to the presidential candidates, fire and fire related issues were the topic of choice for a large number of respondents. Specifically, many questions focused on what the next Administration would do to increase funding and improve staffing for fire services, EMTs, and emergency preparedness in local communities.  For example, a firefighter from Massachusetts posed the following question:

“Due to high number of fire stations throughout the country not staffed properly as determined by federal US standards, if elected what measures would your administration take to ensure that all municipalities would have to follow the federal standards to better protect the lives and safety of our families and our fire fighters?”

Another firefighter from Ohio drew a stark comparison between how local police departments and local fire departments are funded:

“Police departments around the country have numerous avenues to explore access to grant money for their departments. There are a limited number of available avenues for the fire service to access. What, if anything, are you prepared to do to assist the fire service in this respect?”

The frequency of this question, or variations of it, reflects a level of grassroots frustration among Expert Network members about federal funding distribution to local first responders and fire services. 

Respondents were equally concerned with inadequate funding for injury prevention, adult literacy and safety education initiatives, adding that federal funding for these key efforts on a community level was vital to making Americans safer in and around their homes.  A director of a safety education center in South Dakota wanted to know:

“How a candidate would decentralize the money spent on prevention so that state and local bodies have "local" control of how money is distributed based on local identified need?”

Moving Forward

Our survey results underscore the importance of the Expert Network as a valuable source of information that helps HSC keep its finger on the pulse of grassroots fire, injury prevention, and safety communities across the country.  These insights increase HSC’s effectiveness and will contribute to our work on Capitol Hill and in Washington D.C.

As the Home Safety Council continues its public policy efforts, we will also continue to solicit feedback and opinions from our Expert Network members to make sure that your voices and your stories are heard were it matters most.
Finally, thank you to all the Expert Network members who participated in our survey.  With your help, the Home Safety Council will be in a stronger position to have our issues addressed at the national policy level.  While we are awaiting responses from the presidential candidates, we are completing a detailed report of the survey, which will be posted later in March on the Home Safety Council’s Web site.

Learn more about HSC’s Public Policy activities

Patricia Adkins is the Chief Operating Officer of the Home Safety Council.