Mesa Fire and Medical Department Home Safety Device Installation Event

March 17, 2023 at 8:15 am

The Mesa Fire and Medical Department installed 49 grab bars and 161 smoke alarms on Thursday, March 16, 2023, in the Sunrise Vista Mobile Home Park located at 300 S Val Vista Drive.

This community was selected due to call volume statistics. In 2022, there were 239 emergency calls for service within the Sunrise community and 47 of these calls were fall related. With support from Home Depot the grab bars were provided at no cost to participating residents. Additionally, smoke alarms were provided through a donation from the Arizona Burn Foundation.

Mesa Fire and Medical Department staff along with approximately 70 volunteers from local businesses, faith-based agencies, non-profit organizations, ASU nursing students, and Americorps worked in teams installing grab bars and smoke alarms. While the safety devices were installed a team member provided safety education to the resident.

"Community partners and volunteers are integral to the success of our home safety installation events," Fire Chief Mary Cameli said. "Events such as this one benefit our senior residents by providing safety devices that can improve the quality of life and potentially save the resident from injury and costly rehabilitation, as well as reducing emergency calls for service."

Grab bars are especially important to the demographic in the Sunrise Vista Mobile Home Park community. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services one out of three adults 65 years and older will fall this year. Statewide falls resulted in 1,112 deaths, 22,208 hospitalizations, and 133,112 emergency visits.