Chapel Hill, NC– Today, Congressman David E. Price (NC-04), the former Chairman and current senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded a $295,298 Fire Prevention and Safety Grant (FP&S) to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center in the UNC School of Medicine’s Surgery Department. This funding, which is administered under the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, will be used to educate lower-income North Carolinians about fire safety and train first responders in burn treatment.

“I am thrilled that the Jaycee Burn Center has received this funding, which will help prevent dangerous house fires and ensure that first responders have the resources and training they need to effectively treat burn victims,” said Congressman Price. “The research conducted by the Jaycee Center – especially their work with low-income and other vulnerable populations – provides a great public health service to our state’s residents and can save lives.”

“As Chair of a leading public academic department of surgery, I could not be more proud of the work of our people in the Burn Center,” said Dr. Melina Kibbe, MD, FACS, FAHA, Chair of the UNC Medical Center’s Department of Surgery. “Burn prevention and education remains a critically important issue for our state and the nation and so I am very grateful and appreciative for this recognition and grant award from FEMA.”

The North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Health Care is the nation’s leading center for burn research. The research funded by the FEMA grant will focus on identifying at-risk populations who could benefit from fire safety education and early warning devices and conducting first responder trainings to improve pre-hospital treatment of burn victims.

This research will be directed by Dr. Bruce Cairns, MD, Medical Director, and Mr. Ernest Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN, Director of Burn Outreach. Dr. Cairns also serves as Chair of the UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty.

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