Safe Kids news

Burn Awareness Week is Feb. 3-9

Did you know?

• Every day, 352 children ages 19 and under are injured as a result of a fire or burn-related cause.
• Among children under 5 years of age, scalds or contact burns are responsible for 90 percent of burn injuries.
• Children have thinner skin than adults, and children are more likely to have a severe burn.

Find more burn prevention and safety information here.

View the Burn Prevention Tip Sheet  (PDF, 47 KB)

Join us at our next meeting

Effective Feb. 6, 2013, the Coalition will continue to meet at Cardinal Hill Hospital, located at 2050 Versailles Road, the first Wednesday of every month. The meeting time will be from 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Meeting times have changed to accommodate all levels of leadership within the coalition. All community partners and members are encouraged and welcome to attend.  

Find out more about our activities and events. This is also a wonderful time to sign up as a volunteer for events, pick up and return educational materials, and be a part of the wonderful injury-prevention programming Safe Kids provides for the children and families in our community!  

Bring your own lunch. Our meetings are very informal.

Find out more by calling 859-323-1153.

FREE monthly car seat fitting station

Fitting stations will be available on the second Wednesday of each month from 2-4 p.m. Appointments are strongly encouraged. Call the Safe Kids office at 859-323-1153 to schedule an appointment.

The new location for the monthly car seat check up event is Auto Tech Service 780 Winchester Road, Lexington, Ky. View the flyer (PDF, 2.91 MB) >

Safe Kids newsletters

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Fall: It's time to change your clocks and batteries!

When it’s time to "fall back" or “spring forward” and change the clocks, make sure also to change the batteries in all of your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. It could save your life. 

A working smoke alarm reduces a person's chance of dying in a fire by half. 

A working carbon monoxide (CO) detector can save your life from the colorless, odorless gas found in many homes. 

Safety tips for the best protection: 

• Install alarms on every level of your home. 
• Install alarms outside every sleeping area and in every bedroom.  
• Mount high on walls or ceilings and test monthly. 
• Replace batteries at least once a year, unless they are 10-year lithium batteries. 
• Even if your smoke alarms are hardwired, replace the batteries in case of a power outage. 
• If an alarm “chirps,” warning that the battery is low, replace the battery right away.   

Rear-facing Car Seats

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children in car seats stay rear-facing until 2 years of age. See official recommendation >

Cellphone/texting law

On April 12, 2010, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear signed a bill into law that will ban texting while driving for all drivers and all cell phone use for drivers under the age of 18. The law bans texting for drivers of all ages while the vehicle is in motion. For drivers over the age of 18, it allows the use of global positioning devices and reading, selecting or entering a telephone number or name for the purpose of making a phone call. For drivers under 18, no use of personal communication devices such as cell phones and pagers is allowed while the vehicle is in motion. Texting is allowed only to report illegal activity or to request medical or emergency aid. Law enforcement officers will issue warnings until Jan. 1, 2011. On or after January 1, violators will be liable for fines of $25 on a first offense and $50 on each subsequent offense, plus court costs.

Booster seat law effective July 2008

Governor Steve Beshear signed into legislation a new child booster seat law that went into effect July 15, 2008. Children under seven years of age and who are between 40 and 50 inches tall are required to ride in a booster seat. The new requirements are part of KRS 189.125, which sets forth guidelines for child safety seats, booster seats and seat belts.
Read the entire booster seat regulation > 

The Safe Kids mobile check-up van travels throughout Fayette County.