Safe Kids Summer Safety Fair

Each year, area residents look forward to summer vacations, camping, family reunions and picnics. Summertime, however, also brings fires and injuries due to fireworks, severe weather, outdoor grills and campfires. Safe Kids Muskegon and the Muskegon Area Fire Prevention Council are teaming up for the “Safe Kids Summer Safety Fair.” The event is designed to teach families how to keep their children safe during the summer.

The Safe Kids Summer Safety Fair will be held on Friday, July 13, from 3 :00 - 6:00 p.m., at Hackley Park, on 4th St., between Clay and Webster, in Muskegon.

Families will have the opportunity to:

• Practice 9-1-1 calls
• Perform safe escapes in the smoke tent
• See the Muskegon County Sheriff Department Seat Belt Convincer in action

In addition:

• Area fire departments will have fire trucks on display.
• The American Red Cross will be providing water safety information.
• The Muskegon Area Tech Rescue Team will be on hand to demonstrate confined space rescue techniques.
• Safe Kids Muskegon will debut the Spot the Tot program, a program focused on safety in and around vehicles. 
• Participating children will have the opportunity to win safety-related door prizes

According to The Safe Kids U.S. Summer Ranking Report from Safe Kids Worldwide, the latest statistics show that an average of 2,143 children die in the U.S. during the summer months - that’s 17 kids per day. The Safe Kids report shows there were 2.4 million emergency room visits by children during the summer months, and Michigan ranked 30 out of all 50 states, including the District of Columbia, for summer accidental death rates. The report also shows that Michigan had a summertime children’s accidental death rate of 4.32 per 100,000 children, which is above the national average of 3.67 per 100,000.

“Summertime should be a time for fun and carefree days for kids. Knowing a few safety tips and following instructions will help everyone have a safe summer,” said Holly Alway, Safe Kids Muskegon Coordinator at Mercy Health Partners. “We hope to provide helpful and useful safety tips and information for families, and keep safety a top-of-mind priority for everyone this summer,” says Alway.

Safe Kids program was founded in Muskegon in 2000 by Mercy to prevent accidental injury, a leading killer of children ages 14 and younger.  Safe Kids Muskegon strives to generate awareness of the burden of accidental injuries, provide lifesaving devices such as car seats and smoke alarms to families who need them.  Safe Kids Muskegon has provided safety services to nearly 10,000 residents in West Michigan and distributed nearly 600 car seats over the past five years. 

Mercy is the specialty referral hospital along the lakeshore. Mercy ’s services include heart and vascular, emergency services, cancer care, orthopedic and spine surgery, urology, bariatric services, a primary care network, oncology, nephrology, ENT, laboratory, palliative care and rehabilitation.