BABY IN BACK! BRACELET REMINDER SYSTEM

OUR BABY IN BACK! BRACELET REMINDER SYSTEM

Safety Council of Palm Beach County, Inc. Baby in Back! Bracelet Reminder System

A Low Tech Way to Prevent Heatstroke

Now in Fourth Phase of Baby in Back! Educational Campaign

West Palm Beach, Fla. — We keep seeing the headlines and news stories about children dying after being inadvertently forgotten in a hot vehicle. The story hits close to home as well as nationally. Hyperthermia has killed more than 500 children since 1998. It has happened to fanatically organized parents. It has happened to all ages and ethnicities. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist, a police officer, a soldier, a clergyman, an assistant principal and a pediatrician.  To address this emerging public health issue, the Safety Council of Palm Beach County, Inc. is partnering with the Sheriff’s Office of Palm Beach County on the fourth phase of the Baby In Back! Bracelet Reminder System.

Baby in Back! bracelet reminder system  is an awareness campaign that provides a simple, low tech reminder to parents and others transporting children.

How Organizations Should Use the Baby in Back! Bracelet  Reminder System

  • Always distribute the Baby in Back! bracelet reminder system with the information card, since many are not aware of the problem.
  • Tell parents and caregivers to wear the bracelet each and every time their child is in the backseat.
  • Explain that when they take the child out of the car, they should leave the bracelet in a designated place – in the same place- in the vehicle.

Often a change in routine, along with other driver distractions, causes the parent to forget that their child is in the backseat.

“If this reminder system saves even one child from being forgotten, it will be so worth it”, stated Donna Bryan with the Safety Council. “ We continue to hear of the horror of hyperthermia, and it’s ironic but we will never know of the babies saved because of this program.  We were thrilled how Baby in Back! was embraced by the community and we have  distributed over 50,000 bracelets and info cards to date.”

Parents and interested organizations can obtain the Baby in Back! bracelet reminder system for free at the Safety Council of PBC, the District Offices of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, and at Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Child Passenger Seat Fitting Stations.  The Council would like businesses of all types to have a small basket of Baby in Back! reminder systems available for the general public.

  • Total number of U.S. hyperthermia deaths of children left in cars, 2016: 39
  • Total number of U.S. hyperthermia deaths of children left in cars, 2015: 24
  • Total number of U.S. hyperthermia deaths of children left in cars, 1998-present: 709
  • In Florida, total number of hyperthermia deaths of children left in cars, 1998-present: 77
  • 54% of these fatalities from 1998- present were children “forgotten” by their caregiver, 28% were playing in an unattended vehicle, 17% were left intentionally by adult 
  • Average number of U.S. child hyperthermia fatalities per year since 1998: 37                                       (Statistics provided by noheatstroke.org)

Live Classes

This shows how hot your car gets in just twenty minutes on an 80 degree day!

Safety campaigns try to prevent children from dying in hot cars

By Angel Streeter, Sun Sentinel

Children left in scorching vehicles, dying from heat stroke, have become an all-too-familiar tragedy in South Florida.

The complete article can be viewed here.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Safety Council of Palm Beach County, Inc.
(561) 845-8233

For Additional Information:
noheatstroke.org

Pbso.org

kidsandcars.org/heatstroke.html

safercar.gov/heatstroke

safekids.org/heatstroke