Photo By Capt. Kayla Edwards | Staff Sgt. Stephanie Rowland, aircrew flight equipment specialist, receives child seat...... read more read more
Ensuring the safety of the members of the 189th Airlift Wing is a job that the Wing Safety Office takes seriously every single day. Part of developing the safety culture of the wing includes taking care of the families of the members as well. The 189th AW hosted its first Kids Safety Day on October 13, 2018 to provide free resources and information to Airmen in an effort to educate them on developing safe habits. Although the event was coordinated by the 189th AW, it was open to all service members stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base.
The event featured a car seat giveaway, bicycle inspection station, kids ATV and bicycle helmet giveaway, a visit from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, and an appearance by local weather aficionado and storm chaser, Michael Hook, also known as The Weather Ninja. Participants also had an opportunity to grab free items to add to their home safety kits, kids’ safety gear for the upcoming hunting season, and chat with professionals who could provide tips on how to decrease safety related incidents.
Representatives from Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s Injury Prevention Center were in attendance to talk to parents about proper car seat installation, as well provide information about safe sleeping conditions for newborns and infants.
“Nine out of 10 car seats are improperly installed or children are improperly restrained,” said Lessa Payne, infant mortality prevention coordinator for Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Payne acknowledged Arkansas’ high infant mortality rate and hopes that events like the 189th AW Kids Safety Day, would help to reduce the occurrence of traumatic incidents.
“If we can get this education out to more people, hopefully we can lower the infant mortality rate and keep more children safe,” Payne said.
Samantha Minster, the intentional injury prevention specialist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, was on hand to provide car seats and booster seats to those who were in need of new seats. She also helped parents re-install their children’s seats to ensure they were properly secured and shared tips with them about how they could maintain safe restraints as children grow.
“We host a monthly safety event on the first Thursday of every month where parents can come out to see if their car seats are installed correctly and if they bring they bring their child, we can make sure that the seat they have is the correct size for the child,” Minster explained.
The goal of the Kids Safety Day event was to ensure that wing members and Airmen at Little Rock Air Force Base, had the tools about how to keep their families safe. Senior Master Sgt. J. D. Crawford, 189th AW occupational safety manager, organized the Kids Safety Day event with one clear goal in mind: to equip the Airmen of Little Rock Air Force Base with the resources and tools to help keep their families safe.
“We know that our service members’ most precious asset is their families. By helping to protect their families, we protect our most valuable asset: our people,” Crawford said.
If you missed Kids Safety Day, stop by the wing safety office or contact Sergeant Crawford at 501-987-6959 for more information.
| Date Taken: | 11.02.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 11.20.2018 13:26 |
| Story ID: | 300709 |
| Location: | LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, ARKANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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