Member News Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 18, 2005
Local SAFE KIDS Coalition Receives Mobile Car Seat Check Up Van
The Winnebago County SAFE KIDS Coalition, led by SwedishAmerican, has been awarded a Chevy Express Van through a competitive grant program from the National SAFE KIDS Buckle Up Campaign and Chevy Division of GM.
The ,000 van will be used to enhance the coalition’s safety efforts within the counties of Northern Illinois. According to Brian Murphy, EMS Educator and SAFE KIDS Coalition member, “In the past year, we participated in events in Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, Whiteside, Carroll, Stephenson, and Jo Davies Counties. There are no local coalitions in these counties and the van will allow us to easily bring the equipment needed for car seat check ups to these locations. We believe this will allow us to increase the number of families we can reach in the effort to make their children safer.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 80 percent of car seats and about 40 percent of booster seats are used incorrectly, more than tripling the risk of serious injury or death in the event of a crash. According to Sue York, SwedishAmerican SAFE KIDS member, “Locally, in 2004, we found that about 85% of the car seats were improperly installed. Our mission is to educate parents and care givers on the proper use of car seats so that we will have a lower rate of misuse and a lower rate of injury. This van will help us to do this for many more people in the northern Illinois area.”
The Winnebago County SAFE KIDS Coalition, led by SwedishAmerican, is part of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, the first and only national nonprofit organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury – the number one killer of children ages 14 and under. Many organizations and institutions are members of the local coalition.
Car seat safety checks are offered each Wednesday at the SwedishAmerican EMS Office, 4120 Charles Street. Appointments can be made by calling HealthConnect at 968-2500. The Coalition also participates in many community based car seat check ups and community events.