Research
To make sure we meet the needs of all our customers and continue to improve, Kent Fire and Rescue Service undertakes or commissions research. We often rely on published research that has already been completed and published by others, but sometimes we need to do our own primary research to get the information we need.
Research that may be of interest to partners or the general public is shared on this site. Where research may be of interest nationally or internationally it is also shared via the National Fire Chiefs Council's research portal and, where appropriate, published in academic journals.
Often our research relies on us speaking to customers (members of the public) and community representatives. If you are interested in helping us with this research, you can simply sign up to our Research mailing list.
Current research
Lithium-ion Batteries – Usage and Disposal Research
Kent Fire and Rescue Service need to understand what the residents of Kent and Medway know and think about lithium-ion batteries (including re-chargeable electricals) and how they use and dispose of them.
Status: Closed.
Open to: Anyone living in Kent and Medway aged 18 years or over
999 call scenarios
Kent Fire and Rescue Service is looking to better understand what you might need from us during an emergency.
Status: Recruiting - anyone living in Kent or Medway
Open to: All genders
Age: 18 or over
Last updated 18 July 2023
The psychological impact of road crash rescue
Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) are working with the University of Kent's School of Psychology to study the psychological impact of our rescue processes on casualties at road traffic collisions (RTC).
If you've been involved in an RTC in Kent where KFRS have attended within the last 3-4 years and would like to help with this research, please contact the University of Kent. For further information see below.
Published research
Human behaviour research - 14 July 2016
Research undertaken to help us understand people's behaviours and motivations during a fire in a dwelling.
Evaluation of Safe and Well visits - May 2020
Research conducted to evaluate the impact that safe and well visits have on customer behaviour in relation to fire safety.
Pre-school fire safety - November 2020
In 2020, a review of existing research was conducted with the aim of understanding the effectiveness of preschool fire safety interventions.
Segmentation report 2021
Review of existing evidence to identify the human characteristics that are associated with an increased risk of experiencing an accidental dwelling fire, and related injury or fatality.
Evaluation framework 2021
This report presents a revised version of our evaluation framework, which sets out the guiding principles for evaluating the effectiveness of our fire safety activities.
Pre-driver education intervention
This research paper presents findings from an evaluation of a pre-driver education programme (DriveFit) in relation to its effectiveness in improving intentions, socio-cognitive measures, perception of risk and attitudes towards road safety.