Fire safety skills training for individuals with severe and profound mental retardation

The purpose of this research was to evaluate behavioral skills training procedures for teaching individuals with severe and profound mental retardation to exit their residence upon hearing a smoke detector. Assessments took place in the participants' group homes while the participants were unaware that an assessment was taking place. Training consisted of behavioral skills training and in situ training. Following training, it was anticipated that the participants would be able to initiate exiting behaviors within 10 s of the activation of a smoke detector and exit the building within 30 s of initiating exiting behaviors. The results showed that one participant out of seven met these criteria following training. However, data gathered on the level of prompting needed for participants to exit the building showed that four of the seven participants exited the building with a less intrusive level of prompting from staff.