Mesa Fire Department Educator Receives Lifesaver Award

 The National Drowning Prevention Alliance awards a Mesa Fire Department educator with a Lifesaver Award

Mesa, AZ – Each year the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA) awards Community Lifesaver Awards to individuals or organizations that scientifically measured their water safety work to determine its effectiveness.  The Mesa Fire Department is proud and honored that they have chosen Michele Long to be a recipient of a Lifesaver Award.

The purpose of this award is to identify individuals or organizations that have advanced the efforts of drowning prevention through education, research, public awareness, legislative changes, or engineering advancements in one of four regions of the United Stated during the year prior to the Annual national Drowning Prevention Symposium. Michele received the award for the West region at the NDPA Awards luncheon on Monday, February 23, 2009.

Michele Long has been with the Mesa Fire Department Fire and Life Safety Education Section for nine years and has been the Water Safety Coordinator for three years.  In that time Michele has revamped and expanded the scope of the water safety program.  The Water Safety Campaign that Michele developed spanned 18 months and was implemented because from April 2007 to June 2007 there were 17 drownings/near drownings in Mesa, Arizona.  Mesa experienced four drowning incidents in a period of three days.  This prompted Michele to revise the current water safety program and expand the scope to reach a larger audience in a variety of ways.  The improved water safety program is much more comprehensive and is carried out not only during the summer months, but all year long.

Mesa Fire Department’s Water Safety Campaign is made up of several components whose goal is to reach English and Spanish dominant households whose parents, caregivers and adults are caring for children 0-6 years old.  The first component of the campaign is educational classes.  Michele’s program offers water safety classes to both English and non-English speakers.  The class has also been created for adults and for children.  Both of the classes cover the A-B-C’s of water safety (adult supervision, barriers and classes).  Families also have the opportunity to learn the basics of first aid or register for our CPR certification class.

Michele is also responsible for organizing all of the water safety events.  In 2008, she organized six large scale events for the fire department that include April Pool’s, Pachanga en la Piscina, Aqua Mania, Adopt- A-Pool Fence Program, Walk for Water Safety Event, and several Weekend Water Safety Awareness Mass Distributions.  In addition to all the events Michele has organized for the fire department, she has also included mass mailings to preschool, daycare facilities, and apartment complexes in her water safety campaign.  In 2008, she mailed over 25,000 pieces of water safety literature to businesses in Mesa.  The Mesa Fire Department has also developed a strong partnership within our school district.  Since 2005, we have developed and distributed approximately 150,000 water safety newsletters (in English and Spanish) to families with kindergartners through sixth grade.  This past year the number of near drowning/drowning incidents was reduced by 50%.

“I was very surprised when I found out I had won the award.  It’s quite an honor to be recognized for my work by peers on a national level.  Working with the drowning prevention program has been one of the most rewarding and at the same time one of the most difficult programs to work with.  It’s heartbreaking to see the impact on the families as well as on the fire and emergency personnel,” Mesa Fire Water Safety Coordinator Michele Long said.  

When asked where she draws her passion from to continue her work with this issue, she stated, “The passion to do this job comes from seeing a preventable tragedy and wanting to make a difference.”  Deena Bolland, Administrator for the Fire and Life Safety Education Office, emphasized why she thought Michele was an excellent choice for this award, “The work Michele has done in the community in regards to water safety has been outstanding and innovative.  All of Michele’s efforts and dedication have had an impact on Mesa’s residents.”

More information on the NDPA and this award can be found by visiting: http://www.ndpa.org/home/index.htm.