National Child Vehicular Heatstroke Awareness and Prevention Day is April 26

NEWS RELEASE
KidsAndCars.org
 
5 Children Have Already Died in 2017, KidsAndCars.org Reports

April 25, 2017 - In announcing the first National Child Vehicular Heatstroke Awareness and Prevention Day for 2017, on  Wednesday, April 26th, KidsAndCars.org points out that heatstroke deaths are not rare, isolated tragedies. 
On average, once every nine days an innocent child dies of heatstroke in a vehicle. It is of paramount importance that  we work together to continue to raise awareness and prevent these deaths.

Already this year five children have died from heatstroke inside vehicles, and summer is still two months away:

• A boy, 1, died Feb. 6 in Pinecrest, Florida
• A boy, 2, died Feb. 28 in Brandon, Florida
• A girl, 3, died March 28 in Ville Platte, Louisiana
• A boy, 1, died April 4 in Vestavia, Alabama
• A boy, 23 months, died April 14 in Burleson, Texas

Since 1990, almost 800 children have died in these preventable tragedies. An average of 37 children die needlessly  every year from vehicular heatstroke. In 2016 a total of 39 children died.  One of the biggest challenges; nobody thinks  this could ever happen to them.

"If you're a parent or caregiver, ask yourself, 'What steps can I take to make sure our child is never left behind,'"  says Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org, the leading national nonprofit child safety organization  working solely to prevent injuries and deaths of children in and around motor vehicles.

Safety steps include:

• Put something in the back seat so you have to open the back door when leaving the vehicle - cellphone, employee badge, handbag, left shoe, etc.
• Every time you park your vehicle open the back door to make sure no one has been left behind. "Look Before You Lock."
• Ask your childcare provider or babysitter to call you within 10 minutes if your child hasn't arrived on time.
• Keep a stuffed animal in your child's car seat and move it to the front seat to remind you when your baby is in the back seat.
• Focus on driving and avoid cellphone calls and any other distractions while driving.

The public can also help. KidsAndCars.org encourages individuals to take immediate action if they see a child alone in  a vehicle. "Call 911, and try to find the driver. But if the child is in imminent danger, it may be necessary to break the  window furthest away from the child to rescue them," stressed Fennell. The organization offers a small tool  called resqme™, an all-in-one window breaker and seatbelt cutter that fits on a keychain. To break the glass, simply
tap the spring-loaded device on the corner of a car window. ( http://www.kidsandcars.org/resqme-tool/)
 
Using the hashtags #heatstrokekills and #lookbeforeyoulock, KidsAndCars.org will post facts and safety tips throughout  the day about ways to prevent child vehicular heatstroke. The group is also calling on the public and media outlets to  use these hashtags to share information on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. Photos, graphics and posts to
share are available at http://www.kidsandcars.org/heatstroke-day.html.

"We believe education along with technology solutions, such as systems to warn when a child is left behind,  are the most effective way to prevent these tragedies," Fennell added. To educate new parents, the organization has  distributed more than 750,000 safety information cards to birthing hospitals nationwide through its  "Look Before You Lock" educational campaign, the first program of its kind.

For additional information, statistics and charts on child vehicular heat stroke visit:
http://www.kidsandcars.org/heatstroke-day.html.

                                                                        ###



About KidsAndCars.org :  Founded in 1996, KidsAndCars.org is the only national nonprofit child safety organization dedicated solely to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around vehicles. KidAndCars.org promotes awareness among parents, caregivers and the general public about the dangers to children, including backover and frontover incidents, and heat stroke from being unknowingly left in a vehicle. The organization works to prevent tragedies through data collection, education and public awareness, policy change and survivor advocacy.

Are You Going to Vote?

I told my husband Larry I wouldn't listen to any complaints about who won the 1992 election if he didn't vote. He did vote that year – and always after that, including in many primaries.

This year a lot of people don't like any of the candidates, and may use that as an excuse not to vote. Here's what American poet Ogden Nash had to say about people like that:

“Election Day Is a Holiday”

People on whom I do not bother to dote
Are people who do not bother to vote
Heaven forbid that they should ever be exempt
From contumely, obloquy, and various kinds of contempt...

They have such refined and delicate palates
That they can discover no one worthy of their ballots,
And then when someone terrible gets elected
They say There, that’s just what I expected!...

And they have discovered that if you don’t take time out to go to the polls
You can manage very nicely to get through thirty-six holes.
Oh let us cover these clever people very conspicuously with loathing,
For they are un-citizens in citizens’ clothing.

They attempt to justify their negligence
On the ground that no candidate appeals to people of their intelligence,
But I am quite sure that if Abraham Lincoln (Rep.) ran against Thomas Jefferson (Dem.),
Neither man would be appealing enough to squeeze a vote out of them.

By Ogden Nash, from The Pocket Book of Ogden Nash, 1962

Do you support our veterans and our military? Prove it. Honor the freedoms so many fought and died for. Register to vote. Then VOTE!

How We Can Protect Children From Dying in Hot Cars

TIME magazine editorial - July 29, 2016

Janette Fennell @searcherchic

Fennell is president of KidsAndCars.org.

Caregivers should plan for forgetfulness and car companies must implement safeguards

Right now, somewhere in the United States, a family is going about their daily lives unaware that by year’s end their child will die in a hot car. They will suffer the same loss that has already consumed 23 families in guilt and grief this year. That includes four this past weekend in Florida, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Texas. On average, 37 children die this way annually in the United States—meaning that at this pace, another 14 more American families will experience this tragedy this year.

When a child becomes trapped in a hot vehicle, it takes only minutes for their core body temperature to rise to 105 degrees. They quickly begin to shut down. It’s often a parent who returns to the childcare facility at the end of the day and is told that their child was never dropped off that morning. No one can imagine the horror when they race back to their vehicle and discover the lifeless body of their child.
It is all too easy for a loving, doting caregiver to inadvertently leave a child behind. Their minds are fatigued and stressed. And because of a catastrophic but common failure, the brain’s “habit” memory overrides the “prospective” memory. They innocently forget.

Since 1990, at least 775 children have died of vehicular heat stroke, according to KidsAndCars.org’s tracking of these incidents. Even though we know that solutions exist to prevent these deaths, making this loss of lives even more tragic.

One solution is education. Parents and caregivers must know about how an overtaxed brain can fail. And childcare providers need to call—and not just leave a message—if the child does not show up at daycare as expected. Most important, drivers must get in the habit of checking the backseat every time they arrive at their destination: “Look before you lock.” One way to do this is to put their cellphone, handbag or employee badge in the back seat with the child to ensure they always open the back door when they arrive at their destination.

In other cases, a child climbs into a vehicle to play and is overcome by heat, becoming disoriented and thus unable to get out. To stop this from happening, we must always lock vacated vehicles when parked. Keys should be kept out of the reach of children. And if a child goes missing, vehicles and car trunks should be checked immediately.

But education is not enough. We cannot educate every single parent, grandparent, babysitter and caregiver in the country. And most parents don’t believe that the worst mistake a parent can make could happen to them. But blaming them only deepens the heart-rending impact of these incidents for families who are already overwhelmed by guilt and grief. To err is to be human.

It’s essential, then, that we also rethink how vehicles protect us. An unintended consequence of parents moving child car-seats to the backseat to prevent airbag deaths is that children are now out of sight. They then become out of mind. This puts them at risk.

For over a decade, advocates have informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about these deaths and the technology that could help prevent such tragic deaths. Though NHTSA was tasked with studying available and potential technology to prevent child vehicular heat stroke, they are not working toward a solution.

Countless inventors have stepped up offering remedies. Our vehicles remind us to buckle our seat belts, turn off the headlights and take our keys with us. Though while that proves that auto manufacturers realize humans need reminders, those companies have not implemented a sensor and alert system to protect the most precious passengers—our children.

This year, one manufacturer, GMC, finally stepped up and included a reminder system in one of their 2017 models. Just one vehicle, the Acadia, in the entire United States being sold will have a reminder system.

When we learn about the possibility of tainted peanut butter, store shelves are emptied immediately. Bad hamburger is immediately recalled. As are faulty kids toys. Yet, we shamefully remain complacent about the children who continue to die for something utterly preventable. For the sake of the children and their families, we must change. Car companies must change in order to protect their passengers. And until they do, parents and caregivers must be made aware of what we all can do.

http://time.com/4426552/child-deaths-hot-cars/

Why Not Require a Second Amendment ID?

Kris Kobach, Kansas secretary of state, has disenfranchised 17,000 voters who didn’t produce their birth certificates. By Election Day Nov. 8 he hopes to disenfranchise as many as 50,000 voters.

Kobach and other Republicans demand that we show our birth certificate and get a voter ID as proof we’re American citizens with a constitutional right to vote.

So when are Republicans going to demand that we show our birth certificate and get a Second Amendment ID as proof we’re American citizens with a constitutional right to buy a gun?

Bullets or ballots?

Surely at least as much documentation should be required to get access to a military-style semi-automatic rifle as to get access to a ballot.

Susan Pepperdine

Fairway

Published in The Kansas City Star, July 21, 2016

Larry Marks 74th Birthday on Nov. 21

   
Larry is an amazing survival story, but it hasn't been easy. When he was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer 8 1/2 years ago, the outlook was bleak. In 2007, not long after his diagnosis, my Uncle Dorwin asked him what he wanted for his 66th birthday. He replied, "More birthdays."

Larry continues to have a lot of bone pain, often at a level of 6 to 7 out of 10. He had a pain pump installed, which has helped some with the pain in his right leg and hip. He's also had radiation on his leg and on his left elbow, where the worst pain is now.

Last week Larry’s daughter Kim and granddaughter Jamie (visiting from Florida) took him to Kansas University Hospital to get his pain pump refilled. (I stayed home while the plumber fixed a sewer backup.) When Larry returned home, he fell in the garage. We called 911, and they took him to SM hospital, where a CT scan and X-ray showed no brain bleed or fractures. He had scrapes and bruises and of course intensified pain, but was able to come home that evening.

We have signed up for palliative care, and also had Life Alert installed.


We appreciate all the love, support and positive thoughts being sent our way.

In 2007, just after his diagnosis, we got a picture of four generations of Pepperdines: Larry with great-granddaughter Alanna (now 8 1/2), daughter Kim, Susan, granddaughter Jamie and great-grandson Logan (now nearly 12).

Published in the Central Exchange newsletter, July 21, 2015 Kudos to Susan Pepperdine and family for her father's induction into the National Agricultural Hall of Fame!

Susan Pepperdine was elected in 2014 to a three-year term on the board of the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs, Kansas.  On July 11 her late father, Forrest Selby (who passed away in 1970), was inducted into the National Agricultural Hall of Fame. He was a farm implement dealer in Quincy, Illinois. At one time, he had the largest individual International Harvester dealership in the United States.

Susan Pepperdine Forrest Selby

Kansas vs. the Koch Brothers

My letter was published in The Kansas City Star on Feb. 3, 2015: Consider these Kansas budget numbers: $278 million – The 2014 budget shortfall after Gov. Brownback cut income taxes on top earners and certain  small businesses. $141 million – The cuts in highway funds ($100 million) and public employee pensions ($41 million) to help  plug the deficit. $1 billion – Amount that revenue is expected to fall short in 2015. Compare those figures to these for the Koch brothers: $80 billion – The estimated net worth of Charles and David Koch ($40 billion each) – 13 times the 2014  Kansas budget of $5.9 billion. $900 million – The amount the Koch brothers plan to spend in the 2016 election to help elect politicians who  will further lower their taxes and weaken environmental and workplace regulations. Unknown – How many millions they're saving in Kansas income taxes. What we do know is the crippling budget shortfall in Kansas amounts to only about 30 percent of what  the Koch brothers plan to spend to buy the next election. It seems the only thing the Koch brothers can't buy is our respect. If only they would pattern themselves after Ewing Kauffman (“Let KC have baseball!”) instead of Marie Antoinette (“Let them eat cake!”).

Brace Yourself! Caramel Can Be Dangerous

It’s the time of year for caramel corn and caramel-coated apples. Tasty treats, but they remind me of a mishap I once had with the chewy confection.

Starting when I was 9 Mom took me on regular trips to Dr. Bowlin, the orthodontist in Keokuk, Iowa. First I had four teeth pulled, one on each corner of my mouth. When I was 11, the four permanent teeth were pulled. Then I had to wear metal braces until age 16 to straighten and move the remaining teeth back together.

The drive to Keokuk took about an hour, and since they on a different time part of the year, we would often leave home at the same time we were supposed to arrive for my appointments. For years we made the trip once a month on Saturday.

The night after returning from one such trip, I got some of those small cubes of caramel. Big mistake. As I was chewing on one of them, the wire sprung loose from my upper braces on one side and stuck into my cheek. It was Saturday night, so I had to deal with the problem for a week until Mom could take me back to get it fixed.

I learned my lesson. No more caramel, chewing gum or anything else that could threaten to spring my braces.

After seven years of dealing with having eight teeth pulled, having the wires painfully tightened each month, having to put tiny rubber bands on prongs to pull my teeth together and, finally, having to wear a retainer for a year, I was finally done. And I was so grateful to have nice straight teeth.

Mom had always told me that by starting early, I’d appreciate being finished by the time I cared about it. She was right. It was even worth going through the caramel episode.

Protect Your Kids on Halloween

Halloween Safety Tips from KidsAndCars.org

More children are struck by cars on Halloween than any other night of the year.

Two-thirds (2/3) of all highway fatalities at Halloween are alcohol-related. Don't even think about getting behind the wheel if you're impaired.

While excited trick-or-treaters may forget the rules of the road and be oblivious to the hazards, we as motorists must be uber vigilant. Be especially careful between 4 and 8 p.m., when most severe vehicle/young pedestrian collisions happen. Approximately 85% of deaths among young pedestrians occurred at non-intersection locations (indicating children are most likely to dart and dash from mid-block into the street).

Review all appropriate pedestrian and traffic safety rules with your children.
Look both ways before crossing the street. (Ideally, you should look right, left, and then right again.)
- Only cross at street corners, stoplights or crosswalks.
- Never cross against a green (or yellow) light.
- Make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of a stopped car and wait for them to wave you on.
- Stick to the sidewalk between houses. If there are no sidewalks, walk on the far edge of the road facing traffic.
- Do not cross yards and lawns where unseen objects or the uneven terrain can present tripping hazards and never walk near lit candles or luminaries.
- Brighten them up. Fasten reflective tape to their costumes and treat bags to make sure they are visible. Give them flashlights with fresh batteries and glow sticks, to help them see and so drivers/others can see them.
- Trick-or-treat in a group if someone older cannot go with you.

Review traffic safety rules for drivers:
- All motorists need to be especially alert and cautious when driving on Halloween because of the increased number of pedestrians walking the streets.
- Watch for children darting out from between parked cars and into the street. Kids can cross the street anywhere, and most young pedestrian deaths happen at spots other than intersections.
- Watch for children walking on roadways, medians and curbs. Yield to all pedestrians.
- Be extra alert when pulling in and out of driveways.
- Do not assume children can see you or are paying attention. You need to take that responsibility.
- At twilight and later in the evening, watch for children in dark clothing.
- Don't use a cell phone while driving through neighborhoods. A single distraction could lead to a tragedy.
- Discourage teens from driving on Halloween. There are too many hazards and distractions for inexperienced drivers.
- Stay well below the posted speed limit. Drive slowly, and don't pass stopped vehicles. The driver might be dropping off children.
- Always use your turn signals. And if you have to pull over to drop off or pick up your kids, turn on your hazard lights.

Today, technology saves your car battery—tomorrow, it could save your child

My op-ed for TIME Inc., published July 29, 2014

If Cars Can Monitor Left-On Headlights and Rear Obstructions, 
They Should Be Able To Save Trapped Kids’ Lives

Susan Pepperdine

Today, technology saves your car battery—tomorrow, it could save your child

Thursday is National Heatstroke Prevention Day, so here is a little fact for your awareness: In the past 20 years more than 670 U.S. children have died of heatstroke in hot cars. To date this year KidsAndCars.org has recorded 18 such fatalities, including the death last week of a 10-month-old girl in Wichita, Kansas, who was unknowingly left in a vehicle on a 90-degree day.

Our national advocacy nonprofit works year-round to educate parents and caregivers about these dangers, including a nationwide “Look before you lock” program. But education is not enough when all it takes is a simple change in a daily routine to cause a parent to drive past their childcare center and forget their child in the back seat. Current state laws require putting your baby in a rear-facing child safety seat, which has saved the lives of thousands of children in car crashes. An unintended consequence of this shift is that when out of sight, quiet little unobtrusive passengers can slip out of mind.

How can we prevent this failure of memory? The auto industry obviously recognizes that we’re human and our memories often fail us: our cars are able to warn us if we leave our headlights on, our keys are in the ignition, a door is open, we’re low on fuel, if our seatbelt isn’t buckled… If we can monitor our headlights or gas levels, we should be able to get a signal that a child has been forgotten.

Some of the technology options currently on the market include car seat monitors and alert systems, key fobs connected to car seats that sound a reminder and weight-sensitive mats. One system activates when the driver has opened the back door to strap in the car seat, and then sounds a reminder chime when the driver leaves the vehicle. Mobile apps have hit the market, such as Cars-n-Kids Carseat Monitor, which connects with the carseat via a sensor, or the Amber Alert GPS, which tracks your child in or out of the car.

These after-market systems may be useful reminders to some people, but they have not all been tested, and they are not the failsafe solution we need in every vehicle. Furthermore, a 2012 study on “Evaluation of Reminder Technology” sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and conducted by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that a few of these systems were not always reliable.

Safety is something every family deserves. It shouldn’t be optional, like 4WD or leather seats. And it shouldn’t be political. The federal government and automakers along with safety advocates have the ability to solve this problem.

KidsAndCars.org recently launched a petition to push the Obama Administration to authorize the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide funding for research and development of innovative technologies to detect a child left alone in the rear seat of a vehicle, such as infrared breathing sensors (a technology that already exists in certain baby monitors for the home). We also spearheaded an initiative to adopt federal safety standards that require all vehicles to be equipped with trunk release latches to prevent trunk entrapment, safer power window switches to prevent strangulation, and brake transmission shift interlock systems so children cannot inadvertently knock a vehicle into gear. In March, the DOT issued a rule requiring rear visibility systems, such as cameras, as standard equipment on all new passenger vehicles by May 2018.

Today, technology saves your car battery. Tomorrow, it could save your child.
#
Susan Pepperdine is the public relations director of KidsAndCars.org, a national nonprofit group dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around motor vehicles.

Ensure right to vote: Letter in June 28 Kansas City Star

The Supreme Court says money is free speech. Surely our votes are free speech too.

There should be no prior restraint on our free speech right to vote. Republicans are erecting unnecessary barriers. For justification, they’ve fabricated the reason that sounds good: preventing voter fraud. The real reason: preventing voting while Democrat.

But it shouldn’t be easier to buy guns than to vote.

In McCutcheon vs. Federal Election Commission, Chief Justice John Roberts says limiting campaign money unduly burdens “an individual’s right to participate in the public debate through political expression and political association.”

What about the individual’s right to vote?

Roberts argues against restrictions on campaign money without proof of corruption. Potential voters should likewise be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Then there’s venture capitalist Tom Perkins, who proposes that he should have one vote for each dollar earned. (He has $8 billion.) “It should be like a corporation,” he said. “You pay a million dollars in taxes, you get a million votes.”

That would destroy the democratic principle of “one person, one vote.”

Don’t let the GOP and a few billionaires such as Perkins and the Koch brothers take away your free speech right to vote.

Susan Pepperdine

Fairway

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article637107.html#storylink=cpy

Save kids from heatstroke deaths in vehicles – National Heat Awareness Day

Twittercue: This yr 5 children in SC, GA, TX, CA have already died of #heatstroke in hot vehicles. Check backseat. #LookBeforeYouLock  NEWS RELEASE KidsAndCars.org  7532 Wyoming St., Kansas City, MO 64114 Office: 816-216-7085,  www.KidsAndCars.org Contacts: Janette Fennell, 484-278-4641, cell 415-336-9279 or Janette@KidsAndCars.org Amber Rollins, 816-216-7085 or Amber@KidsAndCars.org Susan Pepperdine, 913-262-7414, cell 913-205-5304 or susan@pepperdinepr.com KidsAndCars.org, Ray Ray's Pledge to promote National Heat Awareness Day May 23 Social media campaign warns about dangers to children in hot vehicles May 23, 2014 - Summer hasn't even arrived yet, and already this year five children in four states - South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and California - have died from heatstroke in vehicles. KidsAndCars.org, Ray Ray's Pledge and other child-safety groups are joining forces on Friday, May 23, for a 24-hour social media campaign aimed at raising awareness to prevent child heatstroke deaths in vehicles. The groups will post facts and prevention tips related to child vehicular heatstroke throughout the day, and ask that the public and media outlets join them in support of this national effort. Facebook and Twitter users can find photos and posts to share at the KidsAndCars.org Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/KidsAndCars.org).  Examples of posts and images that will be shared include; 44 children died of #heatstroke in vehicles in 2013. Check backseat, create reminders!  Keep your baby safe! #LookBeforeYouLock Set a policy with daycare to call you IMMEDIATELY if your child doesn't show up. Prevent child #heatstroke in vehicles! #RayRaysPledge Can't find your child? Check inside your vehicle & trunk IMMEDIATELY to prevent #heatstroke. Keep car locked at home.  If you see a child alone in a car, call 911! A car acts like a greenhouse, heating up to lethal temperatures in minutes. Prevent #heatstroke Even the most loving, responsible parents have unknowingly left their child in a vehicle. Prevent #heatstroke! #LookBeforeYouLock       "The worst thing any parent or caregiver can do is think that this could never happen to them or that they are not capable of inadvertently leaving their child behind," says Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org, the leading national nonprofit child safety organization working to prevent injuries and deaths of children in and around vehicles. "This can and does happen to the most loving, responsible and attentive parents," she added. Since the group began tracking data, at least 719 children have died from heatstroke inside vehicles. Last year was one of the worst years in history with a total of 44 children deaths. "We need everyone to understand that these tragedies are not only predictable, they are also very preventable," she said.   Safety Tips from KidsAndCars.org Click image to enlarge. Remember the following "Look Before You Lock" BE SAFE tips from KidsAndCars.org:  Back seat - Put something in the back seat so you have to open the back door when leaving the vehicle - cell phone, employee badge, handbag, etc.  Every child should be correctly restrained in the back seat. Stuffed animal - Move it from the car seat to the front seat to remind you when your baby is in the back seat.  Ask your babysitter or childcare provider to call you within 10 minutes if your child hasn't arrived on time.  Focus on driving - Avoid cell phone calls and texting while driving.  Every time you park your vehicle open the back door to make sure no one has been left behind. Through the "Look Before You Lock" educational campaign, the first of its kind, KidsAndCars.org has distributed nearly 500,000 safety education cards to birthing hospitals nationwide. KidsAndCars.org urges everyone to read Pulitzer Prize-winning article, "Fatal Distraction," by the Washington Post journalist, Gene Weingarten  http://ow.ly/ldDwUThis powerful feature is the best article ever written that explains how these heartbreaking and preventable tragedies can happen to anyone. For additional information, statistics and charts specific to child vehicular heat stroke visit http://www.kidsandcars.org/heatstroke.html. ### About KidsAndCars.org: Founded in 1996, KidsAndCars.org is a national nonprofit child safety organization dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around vehicles. KidAndCars.org promotes awareness among parents, caregivers and the general public about the dangers to children, including backover and frontover incidents, and heat stroke from being inadvertently left in a vehicle. The organization works to prevent tragedies through data collection, education and public awareness, policy change, product redesign and survivor advocacy.

Sporting KC honors three Pearl Harbor Survivors on Dec. 7

Sporting Kansas City provided a short video of the Dec. 7 ceremony honoring Dorwin Lamkin, Edmund Russell and Jack Carson. It's the feed from the public address system so you can only faintly hear the roar of the crowd's ovation. It was great to have them honored at the Major League Soccer championship game...which they won! After the ceremony in the freezing cold, we were treated to watching the game from the VIP suite.

Here's a link to the Dec. 7 report on Action News, TV-41, in Kansas City, showing interviews of Dorwin Lamkin and Edmund Russell at the annual event held that morning at Sylvester Powell Center in Mission, Kan.
http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/12/vudei-kansas-city-area-pearl-harbor.html

Pearl Harbor Survivors to hold Dec. 7 event & be honored at Sporting KC MLS Cup game

Mission, Kan. .... Pearl Harbor survivors in Johnson County, Kan., will commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the attack with a reception from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at Sylvester Powell Jr. Community Center, 6200 Martway in Mission, Kan. The event is free and the public is invited.

Survivors will recount memories of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor that led to U.S. involvement in World War II. A moment of silence will be observed at 11:55 a.m., the Kansas City time the bombing began. A Marine Corps color guard will present the colors, and Mission Mayor Laura McConwell will make a proclamation.

The survivors will also be honored at approximately 3:15 p.m. at the Sporting KC Major League Soccer championship game.

Local Pearl Harbor veterans are:
Jack Carson, 90, Overland Park, Kan. (Army Air Corps)
Dorwin Lamkin, 91, Mission, Kan. (Navy)
Edmund Russell, 96, Lenexa, Kan. (Army Air Corps)
 

A remembrance will also be given in honor of the late Jesse Dunnagan, who had spoken at previous Dec. 7 events. A Pearl Harbor survivor and Navy veteran who lived in Prairie Village, he died in May at age 92.
#

KidsAndCars.org to mark Heat Stroke Prevention Day on July 31

-->
-->News Release

KidsAndCars.org
7532 Wyoming St., Kansas City, Mo. 64114
www.KidsAndCars.org

Contacts:

Janette Fennell, 484-278-4641, cell 415-336-9279 or Janette@KidsAndCars.org

Susan Pepperdine, 913-262-7414, cell 913-205-5304 or susan@pepperdinepr.com

Sally Davisson, 913-871-4763, cell 859-361-5004 or sally@sistersofinvention.com

KidsAndCars.org to mark Heat Stroke Prevention Day on July 31

23 children have already died in hot vehicles this year

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – July ­­29, 2013 – KidsAndCars.org, along with other child-safety advocacy groups and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), will mark Heat Stroke Prevention Day on July 31 with increased efforts to raise awareness and educate parents and caregivers about ways to prevent children from being unknowingly left alone in a hot vehicle. Heat stroke is the leading cause of non-crash vehicle fatalities for children 14 and younger.

On Heat Stroke Prevention Day KidsAndCars.org volunteers will visit birthing centers in cities nationally to distribute Look Before You Lock™ safety education cards for new and expectant parents.

KidsAndCars.org, the only and leading national nonprofit group dedicated solely to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around motor vehicles, to date has distributed over 320,000 of the safety information cards to birthing centers and hospitals nationally.

Participating agencies will also post social media messages throughout the day, asking people to share the posts and retweet using #heatstroke.

“A change in routine, fatigue, distraction, anxiety – each can lead to a tragic momentary memory lapse,” notes Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org. “It can happen to anybody, even the most loving and attentive parents.” It has happened to teachers, a pediatrician, dentist, postal clerk, social worker, police officer, nurse, clergyman, electrician, accountant, soldier, assistant principal and even a rocket scientist.

The number of child heat stroke deaths in vehicles continues to average approximately 37 per year; or about one every 10 days. Since the group began tracking data, at least 670 children have died in these preventable tragedies.

A parked car can reach 125 degrees in minutes, even when the windows are open. Children are especially vulnerable to heat stroke, as their body temperatures rise three to five times faster than an adult’s.

All parents need to carefully follow the guidelines for placing car seats in the back seat – the safest place for children to ride. Additionally, babies should ride rear-facing in their car seats till age 2, according to the guidelines prescribed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

At the same time, parents must understand that while children riding in the back seat has saved many lives, it also requires drivers to take extra precautions to avoid unknowingly leaving children alone in a vehicle. “Following KidsAndCars.org’s Look Before You Lock safety tips doesn’t cost a penny, and provides several layers of protection so your child will not be unknowingly left in a vehicle,” Fennell added. “We never know when there might be a day that our memory fails us, so we urge parents to implement these easy-to-follow instructions so that they become a habit for them and all who care for their child.”

KidsAndCars.org’s Look Before You Lock safety tips include:

• Get in the habit of always opening the back door of your vehicle every time you reach your destination to check to make sure no child – or pet – has been left behind.
• Keep a large stuffed animal in the child's car seat. Right before the child is placed in the seat, move the stuffed animal to the front passenger seat as a visual reminder that your child is in the back seat.
• Put something you'll need on the floorboard in the back seat in front of your child’s car seat (cellphone, handbag, employee ID, briefcase, etc.). This ensures you open the back door of your vehicle to retrieve your belongings.
• Make arrangements with your daycare provider or babysitter to call you within 10 minutes if your child does not arrive as expected.
• Never leave children alone in or around cars, not even for a minute. Instead, use drive-thru services when available.
• Since the group began tracking data, at least 675 children have died in these preventable tragedies.
• When a child is missing, check vehicles and car trunks immediately.

About KidsAndCars.org: Founded in 1996, KidsAndCars.org is the only national nonprofit child safety organization that is solely dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around vehicles. KidAndCars.org promotes awareness among parents, caregivers and the general public about the dangers to children, including backover and frontover incidents, and heat stroke from being inadvertently left in a vehicle. The organization works to prevent tragedies through data collection, education and public awareness, policy change, product redesign and survivor advocacy.

###

Donated stuffed animals to warn parents about dangers of leaving children alone in vehicles

News Release

KidsAndCars.org
7532 Wyoming St., Kansas City, Mo. 64114
Office: 816-216-7085, www.KidsAndCars.org

Contacts:

Janette Fennell, 484-278-4641, cell 415-336-9279 or Janette@KidsAndCars.org

Amber Rollins, 816-216-7085 or Amber@KidsAndCars.org

Susan Pepperdine, 913-262-7414, cell 913-205-5304 or susan@pepperdinepr.com

Donated stuffed animals to warn parents

about dangers of leaving children alone in vehicles

22 children have already died in hot vehicles in U.S. this year

Anchorage, Alaska – Kansas City, MO - July 20, 2013 – Nearly 3,000 stuffed animals and their transport have been donated by Anchorage, Alaska, businesses to KidsAndCars.org, a Kansas City-based national nonprofit child safety organization solely dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around motor vehicles. 

PetSmart, in south Anchorage, donated the stuffed cat and dog toys. On Friday afternoon another Anchorage firm, Lynden Transport, loaded the toys onto a truck and is providing free shipment by steamship to their warehouse in Fife, Wash., near Tacoma.

KidsAndCars.org will coordinate distribution to hospital birthing centers in the lower 48. Volunteers will attach KidsAndCars.org’s “Look before you lock”™ safety information cards with tips to avoid

unknowingly leaving a child behind in a vehicle, including:

• Get in the habit of always opening the back door of your vehicle every time you reach your destination to make sure no child – or pet – has been left behind. 
•  Keep a large stuffed animal in the child's car seat. When the child is placed in the seat, move the stuffed animal to the front passenger seat as a visual reminder that your child is in the back seat.
• Put something you'll need on the floorboard in the back seat (cellphone, handbag, employee ID, briefcase, etc.)
• Make arrangements with your daycare or babysitter to call you within 10 minutes if your child does not arrive as expected.
• Never leave children alone in or around cars, not even for a minute. Instead, use drive-thru services when available.
• When a child is missing, check vehicles and car trunks immediately. 

"The worst thing any parent or caregiver can do is think that this could never happen to them, that they are not capable of inadvertently leaving their child behind," says Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org.

"This can and does happen to the most loving, responsible and attentive parents,” she added. ““All it takes is a lapse in memory when there’s a distraction or a change in routine or change in drivers.” Since the group began tracking data, at least 675 children have died in these preventable tragedies.

About KidsAndCars.org: Founded in 1996, KidsAndCars.org is a national nonprofit child safety organization dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around vehicles. KidAndCars.org promotes awareness among parents, caregivers and the general public about the dangers to children, including backover and frontover incidents, and heat stroke from being inadvertently left in a vehicle. The organization works to prevent tragedies through data collection, education and public awareness, policy change, product redesign and survivor advocacy.