“This is our first task as a society: keeping our children safe.â€
                                                         ̶  President Obama
Did you know preventable injuries are the number one cause of death to children in the United States? From 2007-2012 nearly 3.5 million California children were hospitalized or treated in Emergency Departments for preventable injuries. Thousands more died from their injuries. This is a problem we can solve.
Join Safe Kids California and Safe Kids Alameda on April 26 to celebrate Safe Kids Day at UC Berkeley University Village, Albany, CA. This is a fun, family event to raise awareness and resources to keep kids safe from preventable injuries. Join us to celebrate kids, prevent injuries and save lives! Please visit http://give.safekids.org/CaliforniaCAto learn more and donate to our cause
Thanks to Our Sponsors!
Sleep Safety and Suffocation
It may be hard to resist cute stuffed animals, fluffy blankets and adorable bumpers that make cribs look cozy and warm, but did you know that suffocation is the leading cause of injury-related death among children under 1 year of age? From 2006-2010, more than 1,000 California babies died from sleep-related deaths. Nearly three-quarters of suffocation deaths among infants are from accidental suffocation or strangulation in bed.
The good news is that there are concrete steps you can take to reduce your baby’s risk. Soft bedding can block a baby’s airway during sleep. A firm mattress covered with a tight-fitting crib sheet is all you need to make your baby sleep like one. Room sharing is a safer option than bed sharing. Place your baby’s crib or bassinet next to your bed for more convenient feeding and close contact. Always place baby on her back to sleep, but make sure she gets plenty of supervised tummy time when she’s awake. Learn more about infant safe sleep strategies
Record Numbers Celebrate International Walk to School Day
From all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, 4,447 schools registered Walk to School Day events in October, setting a new Walk to School Day record. In California alone there were 533
Walk To School Day events, many conducted with the help of Safe Kids coalitions. It was another great year of pedestrian safety clinics and participation from local police and fire departments and FedEx volunteers. Parents and kids took advantage of the opportunity to spend time together while getting some fresh air and stretching their legs. Children arrived at school with their bodies and brains ready for
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Heatstroke Alert!
Babies and young kids can sometimes sleep so peacefully that we forget they are even there. It can also be tempting to leave a baby alone in a car while we quickly run into the store. The problem is that leaving a child alone in a car can lead to serious injury or heatstroke – and it happens FAST! Young children’s bodies heat up three to five times faster than adults. There have already been 42 heatstroke deaths in the U.S. in 2013. These tragedies are totally preventable.  More…
Swimming Safety
Whether in a backyard swimming pool, at a community center, or in the ocean, always actively watch your child in and around water – keep your child safe in and around water. Â Â Read our tips!
In 2011, more than 67,000 kids were treated in an emergency room for medicine poisoning. Â That’s one child every 8 minutes.
Medications are the leading cause of child poisoning today. Consider this: among young children, 95% of unintentional medication overdose visits to emergency departments are caused by a child ingesting medication while unsupervised. Learn more about how it happens and what you can do to prevent it. Learn More: Safe Storage, Safe Dosing, Safe Kids 2013
