The New York State's Office of Fire Prevention and Control, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services and Bic Corp., Milford, Conn., sponsored a 2H-hour interactive video seminar on how to teach preschoolers life-saving fire safety skills.

The seminar was conducted by Dr. Robert Cole, a national authority on fire safety education and associate professor at the University of Rochester, and broadcast via satellite to 70 sites, where hundreds of licensed daycare providers and fire service educators statewide were taught the "play safe! be safe!" program.

Developed by educators with a grant from Bic Corp., the program has been used in thousands of classrooms throughout the United States and Canada since its launch in 1994. The lesson package includes a 20-minute video, a teacher's manual, and a variety of supporting activities including a card game, vinyl activity boards and illustrated story cards.

The fire safety seminar was interactive. Participants at all sites were able to ask questions by fax or phone, and Cole answered them on the air. Early childhood development experts were at each of the sites to provide additional information. All participants heard both the questions and the answers, as telephone conversations were broadcast via satellite.

New York State Fire Marshal JimBurns explained that he brought this video conference to New York because cost-effective training was given efficiently to a large number of educators.

"Educators can learn about the 'play safe! be safe!' program directly from us and determine how to take advantage of it in their own classrooms," Cole said. "We are eager to recreate this video conference seminar in other communities."

For further information, contact Dr. Robert Cole at 716-385-3370.

The National Electrical Safety Foundation is using the month of May to create a national public awareness campaign on electrical safety in the home, school, and workplace, according to nesf Executive Director Dora Carter.

The foundation's promotional kit provides guidance to manufacturers; community organizations; federal, state and local agencies; consumer groups; utilities; schools; and certification organizations on how to conduct an electrical safety campaign.

To request a kit, contact Claire Simons at 703-841-3229 or .