Thank you to Kohl’s Cares for committing $450,000 to the Kohl’s Child Injury Prevention Program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Since 2005, Kohl’s Cares has given more than $1.7 million to our hospital, helping Packard Children’s prevent and decrease unintentional injuries and deaths to Bay Area children.
Last year, our hospital conducted a Community Health Needs Assessment to gain insight into the health needs of our community. The assessment identified reduction of unintentional injuries, which include motor vehicle passenger, cyclist, and pedestrian injuries, as a priority. The assessment’s finding was supported by a report released by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention identifying motor vehicle injuries as the leading cause of unintentional injury and death for children. With the Kohl’s Cares gift, Packard Children’s is increasing efforts to reduce unintentional injuries by providing car, bike, and pedestrian safety education through community events and partnerships with local schools, public safety agencies, and family organizations in the Bay Area.
Our Childhood Injury Prevention Program is addressing three types of unintentional injuries: falls, motor vehicle crashes, and pedestrian and bicycle injuries. Currently, our expert trauma care teams at Stanford Health Care and Packard Children’s see approximately 2,700 trauma patients per year, with 65 percent of those patients requiring hospital admission—the most admissions of any trauma center in the county. As a Level 1 pediatric trauma center Packard Children’s cares for children with the most serious trauma injuries, from admission through treatment, rehabilitation, and follow-up care.
“One in every eight children treated for trauma by the Stanford Emergency Department was injured while walking or bicycling,” said Stephanie Chao, MD, pediatric trauma medical director at Packard Children’s and assistant professor of pediatric surgery. “We are grateful for Kohl’s commitment to helping us reduce and prevent unintentional injuries to children in our communities.”
Kohl’s generous support allows our Childhood Injury Prevention Program to devote greater resources to child passenger safety initiatives such as car seat fittings and to develop new bike and pedestrian safety curriculum. Our hospital will extend the reach of current efforts to educate families about child passenger and car seat safety by increasing educational resources and aid available to local families. Over the next two years, our hospital will host 24 car seat fitting events, helping 960 families ensure they have a correct car seat setup though 45-minute one-on-one car seat checks. We will also provide 500 car seats to families in need. Our team will use strategies like public service announcement-type ads to prevent bike and pedestrian injuries by educating children and adolescents about the dangers of biking and texting and walking and texting. Additionally, this gift will support our hospital’s efforts with Safetyville—a replica of a neighborhood filled with miniature crosswalks, traffic signs, and working traffic lights. Safetyville is a fun and entertaining way to reinforce pedestrian and bike safety curriculum for young children at elementary schools and community events.
Thank you to Kohl’s Cares for helping make our communities a safer place for families!
