Safe Kids Lincoln-Lancaster County plans summer of fun, learning

Part of a national group, our branch of Safe Kids has some big events planned for the coming weeks.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The coming summer is joined by an increase in bike traffic. That’s certainly one thing that comes to mind when we consider child safety, but there’s so much more involved. Whether it’s at home, in school, or somewhere in between, Safe Kids Lincoln-Lancaster County has, as you may have guessed, one goal.

“We want to make sure that we do what we can to keep kids safe”, says Injury Prevention Program Coordinator Brian Baker. “We know that there’s thousands of kids each year that are treated in our local emergency rooms and doctors’ offices for injuries that didn’t have to happen.”

Safe Kids helps to turn the tide with lots of outreach, speaking to youngsters all about safety.

“We do educate them on everything from crosswalk navigation, to wearing bike helmets properly and bicycling in the neighborhoods, to being in and around the home environment safely and how to avoid things”, lists Baker.

Back to biking, though, there’s a special event on the way: on May 17th, at Southpointe Pavilions, Safe Kids will be holding a bike-specific event where they’ll ensure safe fits for seats and helmets and offer some hands-on activities.

“They’ll work with those kids, talk about safety behaviors, and then they’ll actually have them hop on their bike and do it right there in front of them, so they can kind of put two and two together”, explains Public Health Educator Kylie Gokie.

Can’t wait? No worries. Sunday kicks off Safe Kids Week.

“We’ll kind of focus each day on a different safety topic”, Gokie says, “provide resources, and just make sure that parents know we’re out here, that these are the kind of things that we can offer, these are the resources that are available to them whenever they want them.”

There’s no time like the present, and you can get a look at all the tips available on the Safe Kids site.