| Shelby Rallies Community to Stop Preventable Injuries |
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Safe Kids Cleveland County will work with families, community members and corporate partners on April 12 in honor of Safe Kids Day to raise awareness and resources to protect kids from preventable injuries and deaths due to motor vehicle crashes, fires, drowning, falls, suffocation and more.
In Shelby we see children injured in motor vehicles, falls, poisoning and other injuries. In fact, every year, 9,000 families in the U.S. and a million families around the world lose a child because of a preventable injury. Millions more children are injured in ways that can affect them for a lifetime.
“Safe Kids Day has one simple, but critical goal: working together as a community to raise awareness about preventable injuries so kids can grow up to do all the great things kids were meant to do,” said Laws. “This is a day to celebrate kids and make learning about preventable injuries fun.” There will be an event at Shelby City Park on April 12th from 9:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. with food, games and lots of great information for parents and caregivers on how to keep their kids active, healthy and safe. This event is sponsored by many in the community to bring awareness on bicycle safety and to help prevent traumatic brain injuries.
Cleveland County is part of a larger celebration throughout the month of April that includes more than 100 communities across the United States. Safe Kids World Wide’s celebrity heroes include Drew Barrymore, Mark Wahlberg, Piers Morgan, Pete Sampras and many more.
Special Events of the month:
• April 12th Shelby City Park Brain Bonanza in observance of Safe Kids Day 9:30 a.m. -2 p.m.
• April 21st Operation Medicine drop/Hazardous waste day at the Cleveland County Health Department 8 a.m. -1 p.m.
Safe Kids Day is presented by Children’s Tylenol with support from the General Motors Foundation, FedEx and Chevrolet.
“As part of Safe Kids Day, we ask every family to take the Safer in 7 Challenge, seven simple tips to keep kids safe,” said Laws. “It’s just one of the many activities we encourage families to do on this special day to make sure every kid is a safe kid. “
Safer in 7 Challenge:
• Check your car seat to make sure it’s snug. Tug on your kid’s car seat where the seat belt goes. If it moves more than 1” at the base, tighten it up. To schedule a free car seat check near you, go to www.safekids.org.
• Do a quick check of the TVs in your home. Secure TVs and furniture to the wall. Mount flat screen TVS and keep bulky-style TVs on a low and stable base.
• Install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in your home. Don’t forget to replace batteries each year and devices every 10 years.
• Keep medicines up and away. Scan your home for places kids can get into medicine. It is pills in purses, vitamins on counters and medicines in daily reminder boxes that curious kids get into.
• Check your home for button batteries. These come in musical greeting cards, remote controls and key fobs. Keep these devices out of reach of little fingers.
• Talk to coaches about concussion prevention and sports safety training. It’s important for players, parents and coaches to recognize the signs and symptoms of concussions, know how to stay hydrated, and learn how to avoid overuse injuries.
• Put devices down when walking. Take action against distraction by teaching kids to look up and pay extra attention when using headphones, cell phones or electronic devices. Make it a rule to put these devices down when crossing the street.
For more information, visit safekidsclevelandcounty.com.
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