Quarterly Newsletter - Summer 2024

Farewell & Welcome

This past spring, Amy Covington who had been a valuable member of our team, transitioned to a different department within Altru Health System. While we were sad to see Amy go, we are so grateful for her hard work on our team while she was with us as a full time team member. Amy shared so much of her expertise in child passenger safety, especially in the hospital setting, with so many. She also was instrumental in changing our newsletter to an online format and in becoming one of two of the first child passenger safety on school bus curriculum instructors. We are grateful for her time with our Safe Kids Grand Forks team and thank her for the work that she has done.

We are pleased to welcome our newest employee who will be taking on the role that Amy once had as our third Safe Kids Specialist, joining Jasmine and Tina in that role. Jed Hendrickson came to our department on May 20, transitioning from his role in Altru’s Warehouse. We welcome him to our team and will further define the roles that each of our Safe Kids Specialists will be in charge of as Jed gets settled into his new role.

As warmer summer days are upon us, Safe Kids Grand Forks wants to offer some tips to keep your family and loved ones safe during this time of year. Each year, an average of 38 children die of heatstroke in hot vehicles. These types of tragedies are preventable if proper precautions are taken. As you can see from the image to the left, over half of the kids are forgotten by their caregivers.

To prevent these situations:

Ø Create reminders such as leaving a purse, backpack or even your shoe in the back seat where the child is located.

Ø Set up a system with your parenting partner to always call or text when the child is dropped off or picked up. Ask your childcare center to call if your child is expected and has not arrived yet.

Ø Make it a habit of always checking the back seat. For a free window cling reminder, contact Safe Kids Grand Forks at safekids@altru.org.

Read More about Heatstroke

Congratulations!

Recently at the North Dakota Vision Zero Partner Conference, Safe Kids Specialist Tina Sanders and Amy Covington were presented with a Traffic Safety Honor Roll Award for their work to launch a child passenger safety for children on school buses program in our state. Our state didn't have any instructors in this field and yet there was a recognized need for education. Tina and Amy stepped up to the challenge to become trained as instructors and have held several training courses in our state, educating not only those attending but others willing to serve as instructors. We are proud of Tina and Amy and congratulate them on this statewide recognition.

Also at the Vision Zero Partner Conference, Josh and Yvonne Jones, from Your QFM, were presented with a Media Partner Award. Safe Kids Grand Forks nominated the Jones team for their willingness to host us on their morning show and always make time for us to share our injury prevention messages. Their support of Safe Kids Grand Forks is unwavering and we were thrilled that they were chosen for this statewide recognition. Congrats Josh and Yvonne.

The Vision Zero Priority Emphasis Area Team for Occupant Protection was recognized at the Lifesavers Conference on Roadway Safety, during the NHTSA Awards Luncheon, for their work to pass North Dakota’s Primary Seat Belt Law!

Pictured above are just a few of the individuals that helped make this monumental bill a reality. Congratulations on this achievement!

Safe Kids Grand Forks has many partners that come together to support the work that we take on. One of those partners is with AAA and they have provided expertise, volunteers and financial support for many of our programs including pedestrian safety, teen driving, distracted driving, child passenger safety and many other areas of injury prevention. At the helm of that effort in our state is Gene LaDoucer, a longtime friend and partner in our work.

Gene retired the end of April from his position and we wish him well in this next chapter of his life and extend our heartfelt gratitude to him for being such a champion in our work. From the bottom of our hearts, we say THANK YOU GENE and all the best in retirement.

Click each image above for more information on medication and laundry safety.

Window Falls: Screens are meant to keep bugs out, not children in!

Did you know that about eight children die, and thousands are injured in falls from windows each year?

Follow these tips to keep your children safe from window falls.

Move, Guard, Stop

MOVE furniture away from windows to discourage children from climbing near windows.
A window GUARD prevents children from falling out of window.
A window STOP prevents windows from opening more than 4 inches.

Install window guards or window stops or talk to your landlord about installing them. For windows on the 6th floor and below, use window guards that adults and older children can open easily in case of fire. Never depend on screens to keep children from falling out of windows.

New Button Battery Law to Keep Them Safe Around Children

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently voted to approve a mandatory standard to reduce button cell and coin battery ingestion hazards to children six years and younger. These batteries are used in many types of consumer products from keyless entry remotes and wireless game controllers to toys and musical greeting cards.

Child Passenger Safety in Ambulances

When medical care teams are taking care of children, they don’t think of them as “little adults”. The medication doses are different, the size and type of equipment is different and many of the treatment modalities differ as children and youth’s bodies respond differently than that of an adult.

Providing age-appropriate care is important in all phases of medical treatment, including in the ambulance. That means that children should be properly restrained on an ambulance cot with equipment other than what is made for adult-sized bodies. There are many types of ambulance restraint systems on the market and knowing what is available, how to use it and where to obtain them was provided in online training sessions this spring for ambulance services from Safe Kids Grand Forks. The training was recorded and is available to watch in an effort to learn about the standards and how to be compliant with them.

Learn More

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