Welcome to our November e-news – hopefully, like us, you’ve enjoyed getting back to a bit of normality, with the further eased restrictions. This has enabled us to deliver 70 child car restraint checking and fitting days across 30 locations, present as part of the new pool inspector courses in Victoria and schedule our first face to face accredited child car restraint training since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March. Our farm safety competition closed on Friday 27th November – thank you to the schools and individuals who participated; please keep an eye out for the winning entries over the next month.
We’ve had an internal team reshuffle since our last update, and I’m excited to welcome Alex Hamilton into our newly created role of Engagement and Relationships Manager, as well as Shannon Griffiths – our wonderful intern over the last couple of months – into a new role as our marketing and communications support officer. We’ll provide you with more insight into the programs that they and the rest of the team will be working in over the coming months.
1st December marks Giving Tuesday – a ‘global generosity movement’. It has been a tough year for many, but if you are in a position to, we would sincerely appreciate your donation to support our new ‘Ambassador Program’. This program will support families touched by serious injury or loss by enabling them to share their lived experience to empower and educate others. We know this will save lives, which is particularly critical considering the high number of serious injuries and deaths due to injury we have seen this year.
We’re also kicking off our premmie bubs child car restraint project – please share the link to our survey below with anyone who may be interested in participating – thank you for your support and stay safe.
Are you a parent of a premmie or low birth weight baby?
Please help us to provide advice on safely transporting premmie bubs by completing our survey
Every year in Australia, approximately 20,000 babies are born prematurely (before 37 weeks of gestation) and about 5,000 of these are born very early (before 32 weeks). Because premmie babies are smaller, choosing a child car restraint that is suitable for their size isn’t a walk in the park for parents.
We are excited to announce that we have received funding from Bendigo Bank as part of the Pinewood Community Grants Program, to develop an important new pilot program at the Monash Children’s Hospital’s NICU unit. The program will provide professional advice to parents of premmie babies on how to choose an appropriate child car restraint, how to correctly adjust it to fit their baby, and how to correctly install it in their car.
To help with the development of the program, we want to know about your experiences including what decisions you made when choosing a child car restraint for your newborn and if your hospital provided you with any advice.
If you can help, we would greatly appreciate you taking the time to complete our survey, for your chance to win one of 4 x $50 gift vouchers.
Child Injury Prevention E-Learning Tools
Community Organisations
Kidsafe Victoria is launching a new Child Injury Prevention E-Learning Tool, specifically designed to support staff and volunteers of community organisations.
Our e-learning tool will assist community organisations to create safe environments to conduct their services within, and to provide child injury prevention information and advice to families who utilise their services .
This tool is FREE until the end of June 2021, thanks to a grant received from the Helen MacPherson Smith Trust.
To organise access to the e-learning tool for your organisation, please email: info@kidsafevic.com.au
Maternal and Child Health Nurses
We also have a comprehensive Child Injury Prevention E-Learning Tool available for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) nurses. This has been specifically designed to support MCH nurses by providing up to date information on a range of child injury prevention issues, including relevant Australian Standards, best practice recommendations and links to useful resources that can be provided to parents and carers.
If you haven’t registered already, please do so today by emailing: info@kidsafevic.com.au
In memory of Hunter – Children’s Swim Program
[Pictured: Hunter Boyle, 2 years old, tragically drowned]
In August 2020, precious two-year-old Hunter Boyle tragically drowned in a Grahamvale dam. He was feeding the horses, when in an instant he went missing and was found unresponsive in the water a short time later.
His parents, Ash and Matt, through their devastation, have vowed to make a difference in Hunter’s name and have established the Hunter Boyle Children’s Swim Program.
This pilot program will be managed by Kidsafe Victoria in partnership with Hunter’s family, with the aim of teaching vulnerable children within the Shepparton region to swim.
To learn more about this program or to share your story with Kidsafe Victoria, please contact: alex@kidsafevic.com.au
Support Hunter Boyle’s Children’s Swim Program
‘Safe Seats Safe Kids’ Program Locations Expanding
This year has been unlike any other, however, COVID-19 has not stopped the need to safely transport our children.
The past couple of months have been a busy time for the ‘Safe Seats Safe Kids’ program. Our fitters have been following the A, B, C’s of Victoria; running free fitting and checking days in locations from Ashburton, Ballarat, Beechworth, Cobram, Camberwell, Sebastopol, Wantirna, Wodonga….and everywhere else in between!
We’ve been ramping up the number of locations since the easing of restrictions in October, so please check our website for the latest updates.
Bookings are essential. If you can’t find a location in your area, you can register through the ‘Safe Seats Safe Kids’ website to be kept informed when the next free fitting and checking day closest to you is released.
Book your spot today
Children Left Unattended in Cars
Did you know that the temperature inside a parked car can be 20 to 30 degrees hotter than outside? Even on a seemingly cool day, the temperature inside a car can quickly rise to dangerous levels. Large cars heat up just as quickly as small ones and leaving the windows down does little to stop the temperature rise.
Leaving children unattended in a car, even for a short time, can be fatal. Even if you are only planning to quickly go in and grab something from the shops, there are a number of things that can hold you up. The queue at the register may be longer than you expected, you may not be able to find what you are looking for or you might bump into somebody that you know.
Click here to find out more information on the dangers of leaving children unattended in cars.
We have developed a number of community awareness kits, including those for local councils and early childhood centres, to help organisations raise awareness of the dangers of leaving children unattended in cars in an ongoing capacity. The kits include signs that can be erected in car parks, banners for websites, among other digital collateral. To find out more about the kits, please click on the links below.
View Local Council community awareness kit
View Early Childhood community awareness kit
Kidsafe In The News
Eyre Peninsula – Check pool safety as summer approaches
Geelong Times – Deadline approaching for pool registration
Splash Magazine – Barrier checks are more important than ever
Triple M Mildura – Safe Barriers, Save Lives
Cobram Courier – National Kidsafe Day Reminds us to be Forever Cautious
Shepparton News – Swim Program in Honour of Boy Who Tragically Drowned
WIN News Shepparton – Kidsafe Partners with Hunter Boyle Swim Program
NextGen Life E-Mag – Is your furniture a topple hazard?
Mirage News – Eltham North Adventure Playground Wins Top Award
Product Recalls
CNP Brands – Bebecare Pod Nui High Chair, Childcare Pod High Chair and Childcare Coda High Chair
The plastic casing at the top of the chair leg may develop cracks or even break, potentially causing the legs to twist and compromise the strength and stability of the chair. A child seated in the highchair could become injured if it collapses or falls
For more information please click here.
Valentine & Co – Sol Cot
This cot does not meet the standard spacing requirements for where the rattan loops are tied together, and a child’s toes or fingers could get stuck in the gaps and cause serious injury.
For more information please click here.
Brazco International Pty Ltd – Make It in Your Own Kits
(Sparkling Modelling Spa, Scented Lip Balm and Science Perfumed Bath Bombs)
These products do not list ingredient information on or inside the packaging, and children could unknowingly be exposed to ingredients that they are allergic to. In the event of an allergic reaction, a consumer would not be able to identify the possible cause and seek appropriate treatment.
For more information please click here
