Kohl's Safe at Home Program
The Kohl's Safe at Home Program is a year-round safe sleep awareness and education program with a 2-fold mission:
1. To discuss with parents of infants, one month to one year old, how to reduce the risk of sleep related infant death by providing a safe sleep environment for their babies
2. To discuss with parents with children under the age of 6 how to childproof their homes and identify potential hazards that may cause injury to their children
Kohl's commitment to Texas Children's Hospital and the Safe at Home program is made possible through the Kohl's Cares philanthropic initiative.
To request a free Home Safety presentation, contact Kandis Wilborn at 832-824-3489.
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Spotlight on Safety: Furniture Tip Overs
Children are frequently injured by heavy and unsecured furniture in the home, such as TVs, dressers, and entertainment centers. Here are some helpful tips to protect the children you love:
•Check Your TV.Assess the stability of the TVs in your home. Remember, a curious, determined child can topple a TV. Children playing with friends or pets could knock a TV over, while other kids might be tempted to climb up to reach items placed on top of a TV, such as remote controls or candy.
•Secure Your TV. Securing your TV to the wall is the safest solution. Much like childproofing with a toddler gate or electrical socket cover, TV mounts and furniture straps are necessary precautions for keeping your family safe. If you have a large, heavy, old-style cathode ray tube TV, then place it on a low, stable piece of furniture.
•Secure your Furniture.Use brackets, braces or wall straps to secure unstable or top-heavy furniture to the wall. Install stops on dresser drawers to prevent them from being pulled all the way out. Multiple open drawers can cause the weight to shift, making it easier for a dresser to fall.
TV Tip Over’s: Is Your Child at Risk
http://www.safekids.org/video/tv-tip-overs-emerging-danger (Please embed video, so that families can click on image and watch video; also available on You Tube)
Additional Resources:
Consumer Product Safety Commission (Clickable link)
Safe Kids Greater Houston (Clickable Link)
One Mom Shares Her Story (Clickable link?? If not, we can just paste it in??)
THINKING ABOUT CHANCE
One mom's constant reminder about the dangers of TV tip-overs.
My name is Keisha Bowles. Last year, the unthinkable happened to my family. My beautiful 2-year-old daughter, Sydney Chance, was killed in a tragic accident.
Sydney Chance, or “Chance” as we typically called her, was a wonderful, curious little girl. She loved to explore and was totally fearless. She adored butterflies and loved to dance and sing.
One night on April 3, 2012, shortly after dinner, Chance was playing around the house. She was running back and forth between her 7-year old brother, Brandon’s, room and my bedroom. The last thing she said to me was “I love you, mama.” And I said, “I love you too, Chance.”
In Brandon’s bedroom, Chance began pulling out the drawers to the dresser in order to climb up and reach a TV, which was sitting on top.
With nothing to secure either the TV or the dresser, the weight of the opened drawers and Chance’s body steadily climbing up was enough to tip everything. In an instant, both the TV and dresser fell over.
My son started screaming and crying and ran to get me. What I saw when I entered the room will stay with me forever.
Chance was lying on the floor, unconscious. It was a mother’s worst nightmare.
I called 911, and Chance was airlifted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, which is about 35 minutes away from Conway, where we used to live in. There wasn’t enough room for me in the helicopter, so I drove to the hospital to meet Chance.
I don’t remember much about the ride over, but I know I must’ve driven really fast because I beat the helicopter back to the hospital.
The doctors told me they would do everything they could, but it didn’t look good. They didn’t give me much hope. The force and weight of the TV and furniture were too much for Chance. In just a few minutes, my whole had world changed. Chance died in the hospital the next day.
I think about Chance every minute of every day. I never thought this type of thing could happen to us. We’re just a normal family. But now I know it can happen to anyone and I want to tell people to check their homes.
I never knew that a TV or piece of furniture could be dangerous to kids. Before the accident, we secured our flat screen TV to the wall in the living room. I didn’t know that we should also secure our old TV in Brandon’s room or even the dresser on which it stood.
Since Chance’s death, whenever I go into other people’s homes, I tell them our story. I talk to them aboutwhat parents can do to prevent TVs and furniture from tipping over.After hearing what happened to us, most people do whatever they can to protect their kids and make sure that what happened to my family doesn’t happen to them.
Brandon misses his sister so much and asks often, why did she have to leave? One of the hardest parts of her death for me is knowing that it could’ve been prevented. If I had only known more, things would’ve been different.
That’s why I want to share my story with as many families as possible. I don’t want other families to take the chance of this happening to them. Because it only takes a matter of minutes. And lives can be changed forever from something that is 100 percent preventable.
- See more at: http://www.safekids.org/story/thinking-about-chance#sthash.S17hckkJ.dpuf
HOME SAFETY (clickable link that leads to the current stuff under home safety label)
SAFE SLEEP (clickable link that leads to the current stuff under home safety label)