May 2019 Newsletter

One of our colleagues uses this quote from Winston Churchill in her email signature: “Even though you cannot see the victory, you must stay in the fight until those who are not involved come to their senses.”

How often that is true of our work in preventing childhood injuries, whether you are serving as a nurse, CPS Tech, teacher, public health educator, or in law enforcement, EMS or related fields.

In this issue, we’ve gathered news you can cite while making your case to anyone who needs to learn more, including articles on safer bicycling, the AAP's new guidelines on transporting children with special needs, child nutrition, and how pervasive distracted driving really is.

May is full of dedicated safety days, weeks and months for which many of you have planned events. Whether yours is a first time event or an annual tradition, we wish you good weather and great turnouts; good people and great attitudes; good fun and great teaching!

-Jamie, Wendy and the I'm Safe Team

P.S.  Our new catalog has gone out and we would love your feedback!  If you haven’t received one, you can request one today.

Painted bike lanes are not enough to keep bicyclists safe according to a new study from Monash University. Compared to streets with no bicycle infrastructure, drivers passed cyclists about 1.25 feet closer when there was a painted bicycle lane. However, separating motor vehicles from bicyclists by a physical barrier may improve not only safety, but ridership. Seattle’s ridership increased by over 400% after a protected bike lane was built. 

Want more Helmet Hair? Who Cares!? materials? Please take our survey and download our latest meme.
 

Is this a topic that you need materials for? Let us know.
 

• Click It or Ticket Campaign, highlighting the dangers of not using a seat belt, which will continue from now until June 2.
• May is Motorcycle Awareness Month, with a focus on rider safety.
• Fourth of July Impaired Driving Campaign; "Drive Sober" is the primary message followed by "Buzzed Driving."

National Heatstroke Prevention Day is July 31st, but we want to get ahead on raising awareness this year especially considering that there were 52 deaths in 2018, the highest on record. Please remind everyone that the weather doesn't have to be sweltering outside to cause fatal temperatures inside a car.

Look Before You Lock messaging on our window clings reminds parents and caregivers to never leave a child in the car. The temperature strip highlights just how hot it can get in a car, even on a cool day.

"Plug into Safety" ... During National Electrical Safety Month (now), the Consumer Product Safety Commission wants to remind everyone to "think safety" around electrical appliances. They are offering this "Plug into Safety" poster/graphic, which we think would also make a good social media post. 

Children are more likely to choose healthy foods if they can understand the benefits. A Washington State University study found that children ate twice as much healthy food when they were told a food could help them do things like "grow bigger and run faster." Read more here.

Children can also learn benefits they can understand from our MyPlate Nutrition Education Kit for Head Start or Early Childhood. These are two of our discounted kits this month. Take 10% off orders of $250 or more. For an estimate, email Jamie or call 1-877-669-7233, ext 206.