Winter Fire Safety 2008

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH), and the California State Firefighters’ Association (CSFA), are urging all Californians to take precautions to prevent house fires and burns and other injuries that are more prevalent in winter months.  In winter, fire departments see an increase in the percentage of fires and injuries caused by reasons not seen as often or at all during other times of years – causes such as space heaters, candles, and Christmas trees.

As your public hospital, we see the result of these incidents when the victims are brought to our Burn Center – often with life-threatening burns, smoke inhalation or other injuries. Please take every precaution to protect yourself, your family and loved ones. The information listed below can help you prevent house fires and injuries during the winter months. 

Winter Safety Fact Sheet
Winter Safety Tips - English, Spanish
Preventing Burn Injuries - English, Spanish, Vietnamese
Child Safety Tips

Staff members at the Regional Burn Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center are available for presentations and lectures on any burn related topic at health fairs, schools and other community events and programs.

For further information regarding the Regional Burn Center or our services please contact us via email at Jill.Sproul@hhs.sccgov.org or call (408) 885-6670.

NBC 11 covers the importance of Winter Fire Safety emphasizing careful use of candles, space heaters, and hot liquids with the most common burn injuries seen at Valley Medical Center: scald injuries. Click here to view the news clip.

Read about five-year-old Edgar Flores, burned over 85 percent of his body in a car accident - and why our staff agree that he's amazing...more

Burn victim helps those like her. Read how our Nurse Manager encourages fellow survivors.... Read Jill's story....

Dave McNabb holds the record for lengh of stay in the Regional Burn Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Read his story....

Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi received a call from the Aptos fire captain on January 7th - read the story...