Gyeonggi Fire Department Prepares Fire Safety Measures for '2.65 Million Disabled People'... Safety Culture Festival to be Held in October

On the 20th, the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters prepared fire safety measures for people with disabilities in Gyeonggi-do, focusing on fostering a safety culture for the disabled and strengthening fire safety education ahead of the ‘Day of Persons with Disabilities’.

First, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters will hold various safety culture events where people with and without disabilities come together to foster a safety culture for the disabled.

The 1st Disabled 119 Safety Culture Festival, a cultural event to raise safety awareness among people with disabilities, will be held this October at the Gyeonggi-do National Safety Experience Center located in Osan. People with disabilities and their guardians from across the province will participate, with performances, exhibitions, and experiential programs related to safety for the disabled, as well as exchanges of safety information.

In addition, in June, a fire safety knowledge quiz competition for people with disabilities called ‘Let’s Ring Together! Safety Golden Bell’ will be held with about 100 participants with disabilities.

The Fire and Disaster Headquarters will also strengthen fire safety education for people with disabilities.

Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters

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In cooperation with training institutions under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, education combining theory and practice on fire safety and first aid will be provided to about 35,000 people with disabilities this year. In particular, safety education will be delivered directly to the homes of ‘severely disabled persons living at home,’ who are in safety education blind spots.

Additionally, through customized safety support by disability type, fire extinguishers and residential fire alarms will be installed in 500 households of people with disabilities living in detached houses and multi-family housing (excluding apartments).

Furthermore, an e-book of ‘54 Types of Disaster-Specific Action Guidelines’ produced last year will be created in the second half of this year, and fire drills simulating actual fires will be conducted in 105 welfare facilities for people with disabilities in the province in June. Fire safety inspections will also be carried out throughout the year at 694 welfare facilities for people with disabilities to check for blocked emergency exits and obstructed fire safety equipment.

Cho Sun-ho, head of the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, “We plan to discover safety support policies through cooperation with safety and welfare experts for people with disabilities to foster a diverse safety culture for the disabled,” adding, “We will implement policies more carefully to ensure that people with disabilities are not discriminated against or marginalized during disasters.”

Meanwhile, the total disabled population in the Gyeonggi region is 2.65 million (as of 2021), showing an increasing trend every year since 2015. In particular, the aging of the disabled population and the increase in single-person households are evident. The proportion of elderly people with disabilities increased from 43.3% in 2014 to 49.9% in 2020, and the proportion of single-person households also rose from 24.3% in 2014 to 27.2% in 2020.

The number of deaths per 100,000 people was about nine times higher for people with disabilities at 3.2 compared to 0.36 for those without disabilities.

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