Community
Mother-to-Mother BEAT THE HEAT CAMPAIGN!
June 26th 2017 by Dee Loflin
Stoddard County, Missouri - Summer is officially here, and along with it comes all the best loved traditions: swimming, camping, 4th of July fireworks, vacations. However, since around 1998 another event has crept into our collective psyches: news flashing over the TV that yet another child has died in a hot car due to heatstroke.
Collectively we shake our heads and wonder out loud how a parent could possibly leave his or her child in the backseat of a car for a short time or perhaps for hours. Either way the result can be the same. The child’s core body temperature reaches over 107 degrees F. This means that the child’s organs have started to or have shut down and death or severe brain damage probably has occurred.
Since 1990, According to KidsNCars, a national clearing house for data and information on car related injuries, over 800 children have died after having been left in a hot car. This averages to about 37 deaths per year.
Dexter Community Regional Healthcare Foundation’s Mother-to-Mother (M2M) Program, in cooperation with Missouri Children’s Trust Fund, is initiating its third annual Beat the Heat Campaign.
M2M knows how important it is to remind all caregivers...birth parents, grandparents, baby sitters, older siblings… that it is a lifesaving responsibility to always check the backseat before leaving the vehicle.
For the past fifteen years, M2M has been actively involved in child abuse and prevention activities throughout Stoddard County. Empowering young first time mothers to be able to provide for the physical, emotional and financial needs of their children, the program’s primary focus is reducing incidences of child abuse and neglect, thus providing another generation with brighter and more productive futures.
Mother-to-Mother’s 2017 Beat the Heat Campaign will center around the sharing of information on this important topic.
"With guidance from the Mother-to-Mother Advisory Council, we will be working with communities throughout the county to increase public awareness about vehicular heatstroke," explains Teresa Overall, M2M Program Coordinator.
This effort will include posters, public service announcements, newspaper articles, and displays on marquees.
Last Updated on June 26th 2017 by Dee Loflin
https://showmetimes.com/Blogpost/v7ov/MothertoMother-BEAT-THE-HEAT-CAMPAIGN
