County wide program concentrates on child safety
CHRIS ROUSH/DAILY FORUM
Nodaway County Health Department volunteer Maci Hicks poses with some of the products designed to keep children safe. The Health Department and several county organizations have teamed up for The Child Safety Task Force. The coalition will have a Safety Alley program at the Nodaway County Fair Saturday night.
After months of preparation, the Child Safety Task Force of Nodaway County will make its debut at the Nodaway County Fair this weekend. The Nodaway County Health Department has helped create the coalition and department volunteer Maci Hicks said the fair is a great opportunity to talk with families.
“We thought it would be a great opportunity to talk with the families while they’re at the fair,” Hicks said. “Parents bring their children to the fair and hopefully they will Saturday night.”
The goal of the coalition is for the hearts and minds of Nodaway County to come together to develop, promote and maintain the safety and health of our children through community education and advocacy utilizing evidence-based, proven programs with the goal of preventing future tragedies.
“When we started this coalition, we wanted to find a way to reach the community and our target about the protection of children 5 years old and younger,” Health Department Administrator Della Rhoades Watkins said. “We know that everyone goes to the fair and this was a great opportunity for us to reach as many people as possible.”
The Safety Alley starts at 5:30 Saturday evening on the east side of the Courthouse Square in Maryville. The program will feature several stations for families to visit and learn more about keeping children safe.
Kids will visit each station, where they will learn about poison safety, caregiver safety, how to dial 9-1-1 and a shaken baby simulator. Each participant will be given a passport and after each station they visit, the activity will be marked off in the book. Kids will have the opportunity to win three carnival ride tickets and a slushie for participating in the Safety Alley.
Within the program there are several committees that have worked for months to prepare for this weekend including a poison control committee, safe sleep/shaken baby committee, caregiver safety committee, gun safety committee, vehicle safety committee, Josh the Otter for water safety and a financial and community relations committee designed for growing the reach of the coalition.
“We put together a broad base coalition with any organization in Nodaway County and every organization that we’ve asked has been willing to help out,” Rhoades Watkins said. “We want this to be a cause that people care about for years to come.”
The coalition has more than 20 member organizations and Hicks said when she approached organizations, they were all fascinated by the idea.
“Everyone is interested in helping,” Hicks said. “I haven’t had anyone turn us down or say no. Everybody seems interested and it catches their eye because I don’t think people think about this stuff on a daily basis.”
The coalition has created a brochure designed to spread the word about children’s safety. One of the types of safety featured in the handout is poison education, which includes keeping cleaners and other toxic products out of reach of children. Also, installing child safety locks on cabinets where you have stored poisonous items, reading product labels to find out what can be hazardous to children and being aware of any medications or makeup that might be in your handbag.
Animal and pet safety, another element of the brochure, includes receiving permission before petting a dog, petting the dog under its chin or on its chest. If a dog has a bone, leave the dog alone and if you’re scared of a dog, don’t run or scream, it’s safer to walk away slowly and quietly. Children shouldn’t be left unsupervised with animals.
Some aspects of vehicle safety include never leaving a child unattended in a vehicle, even if the windows are partially open or the engine is running and the air conditioning is on. Individuals should teach children that vehicles are not a toy and store keys out of reach of children.
When it comes to gun safety, store guns in a locked location, unloaded and out of reach and sight of children. Individuals should make sure all guns are equipped with effective, child restraint gun locks and explain how guns that children might see on television or in a video game are different from a real-life gun.
The last segment of the children’s safety brochure is tips regarding safe sleep/shaken baby. Some safety tips include laying a baby on his or her back to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, don’t hang anything above a baby’s crib, picking up a baby and shaking, throwing, hitting or hurting them is never an appropriate response to crying or distress.
“This is a very rewarding cause and it’s been great,” Hicks said. “It’s good to know that this will benefit parents and children moving forward.”
