About Safe Kids

The National SAFE KIDS Campaign, the first national non-profit organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury, was launched in 1988 to address what was then a little recognized problem: More children under age 14 were dying from what people call “accidents” (motor vehicle crashes, fires and other injuries) than from any other cause.

The Campaign's co-founder and president, Dr. Martin Eichelberger, believes there is no such thing as an "accident" and that unintentional injuries can be prevented. Dr. Eichelberger and Herta Feely, co-founder and former executive director of the Campaign, joined together to enlist the support of corporations, government agencies and the health and safety community to reduce the incidence of childhood injury. Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D., Sc.D., came on board as chairman of the Campaign.

The Campaign's aim is to stimulate changes in attitudes, behavior and the environment. From its inception, the Campaign has relied on developing injury prevention strategies that work in the real world –– conducting public outreach and awareness campaigns, stimulating hands-on grassroots activity and working to make injury prevention a public policy priority. This ongoing actionable strategy accounts for the tremendous progress the National SAFE KIDS Campaign has made.

The Campaign relies on the support of more than 300 state and local SAFE KIDS coalitions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to reach out to local communities with prevention messages. These dedicated professionals and volunteers have distributed nearly 1 million bicycle helmets, 500,000 child safety seats and 100,000 smoke alarms to families in need. The coalitions work closely with law enforcement officers, firefighters and paramedics, medical and health professionals, educators, parents, grandparents, businesses, public policy-makers and, most importantly, kids.

The Springfield Safe Kids Coalition was established in 1989 under the direction of C. Les Reynolds, Founder of the Safety Council of the Ozarks. Throughout the years, the Coalition has expanded to cover almost 1/2 a million people in Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Laclede, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney, and Webster counties. The Coalition's activities focus on child passenger safety, bike/pedestrian safety, fire prevention, sports safety, water safety and other child injury prevention programs.

Safe Kids Springfield earned the highest coveted award from Safe Kids Worldwide with the "Coalition of the Year" award at the 2007 Leadership Conference in Washington DC in October 2007. In February 2008, the Safe Kids program changed lead agencies and moved over to St. John's Health System, under the Trauma Services department. This transition provides the Coalition opportunities for endless growth and expanded program development.

Newsletters & Annual Reports

Check out what's happening at Safe Kids Springfield

Safe Kids News - June 2008

Safe Kids News - December 2007
2007 Safe Kids Springfield End of Year Report
2006 Safe Kids Springfield End of Year Report
Safe Kids News - May 2007
Safe Kids News - January 2007
Safe Kids News - September 2006
Safe Kids News - May 2006

• Advisory Committee members