The Cobb & Douglas Public Health Safe Kids Cobb County Coalition leads the state of Georgia in number of car seats checked for safety in the past year.
Safe Kids Cobb County checked 2,400 seats last year, a commitment which involved inspecting seats for proper installation in the car and ensuring children were properly restrained within their car seats. Safe Kids Cobb County has checked twice as many seats than any other Safe Kids organization in the state, striving to reduce motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for children 14 and younger.
“We credit our success to the solid community partnerships we’ve forged, and how active we’ve been in the community for nearly 25 years,” said Viva Price, co-coordinator of Safe Kids Cobb County. “With WellStar and CDPH serving as our lead agencies for the coalition, we are able to create a strong and sustainable injury prevention program for our community.”
Cobb Public Safety and WellStar Foundation also help to raise funds to provide safety equipment, like car seats, to those in need in Cobb County. With this funding, Safe Kids Cobb County is able to assist parents by educating them on related child injury topics and helping them install car seats in the Cobb County Safety Village with certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians, correcting the three out of four car seats that are incorrectly installed.
Safe Kids Douglas County was also recently recognized for its achievements in preventing childhood injuries by the Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute (GTIPI), a part of The University of Georgia’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). Safe Kids Douglas’ Lin Snowe and Dianna Vaughn were presented with the Buckle Up! America Award under the “Public Health” Category for their efforts in reducing accidental child injury from car seats and motor vehicle crashes.
Snow and Vaughn were also recognized for taking an active role in promoting injury prevention in the field of traffic safety, including legislative activities, injury prevention initiatives, and through media awareness.
“We are extremely proud of the work these professionals and volunteers do to save lives on Georgia’s roads and highways,” said Harris Blackwood, director of GOHS.
The Buckle Up! America Awards recognize individuals, agencies, community and civic groups who work to reduce injuries and prevent fatalities in Georgia through involvement with traffic safety, seat belt and child safety seat awareness initiatives. Recipients are chosen through nominations made with supportive documentation that identifies impact in the areas of community involvement, injury prevention activities, advocacy, leadership and merit.
For more information about Safe Kids Cobb or Safe Kids Douglas, visit the following websites: www.safekidscobbcounty.org and www.safekidsdouglas.org.