Making Changes for Safety
Now that we had 3-Dimensional pictures, it enabled us to make any necessary changes to make transporting children the safest way possible…
The most important one was going from a 3-POINT HARNESS…or this
to this…a 5-POINT HARNESS that allowed for a single strap to be detached rather than the entire harness, so if necessary it would allow a medical technician access to injuries without risking a child’s safety
Another change of critical importance was ADDING A BACKBOARD specifically designed to fit this seat. EMS personnel needed to be able to safely immobilize and transport a child with severe head or neck injuries to an emergency care facility, transfer the injured child into their care and then depart to handle the next emergency. Without a backboard, we soon discovered this was not possible. The child could be secured directly to the device, but then the device would need to remain behind…along with all the pediatric medical supplies stored in its compartments. The safest path for the child and best for the EMS staff was for us to add a backboard to the design…so that’s what we did.
Miley Cyrus & Pediatric Safety: A winning ticket!
We finally did it!
After countless hours of planning and testing and developing – we finally think we’ve put together a site where everyone who cares about children’s health and safety – (parents and doctors and nurses and emergency responders and teachers…to name a few) – can get together to stay informed on the child health safety topics that have the potential to affect us and the children in our care.
A place where we can show each other some of the ideas that we as caregivers had, and then later turned into products and services that help keep kids healthier and safer; and a forum where we’ve been fortunate to have some experts (pediatricians, pediatric nurses, an EMS safety expert, and a specialist in keeping home & kids toxic chemical-free) who have kindly volunteered time to help out with an open exchange of questions and ideas.
It’s a place where hopefully each of you can find answers and in turn give answers to others who need them. It’s a community where people can support each other… and it’s yours.
So where does this contest thing come in??? Well how do you get to know a new place unless you explore??? And we WANT you to get to know this one – and tell others about it. …And THAT’s where this contest thing comes in :)
Introducing: Miley Cyrus & Pediatric Safety: A winning ticket!
**contest extended two more weeks**:
The prize: as a way of thanking our new friends…
- For one lucky winner: Two (2) tickets to see Miley Cyrus in concert on November 18th at Nassau Coliseum in New York
- For another lucky winner: Two (2) tickets to see Miley Cyrus in concert on November 29th at Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA
And here’s how it works:
Below you will find our CONTEST ENTRY FORM. It includes our MANDATORY entry for the contest as well as the opportunity for you to enter a BONUS entry…
For simplicity (and so that you can tweet multiple times) you can use this form for each bonus entry, however if this is an additional entry, please check the box saying this an additional entry so we know you have already completed your mandatory entry requirement. Please note: you must fill out a separate form for the mandatory entry as well as for each bonus entry so we can make sure each entry gets counted.
Starting next Friday, and for each Friday after that we will post opportunities for you to earn additional BONUS entries. Each bonus entry will be listed for that 1 week and will only be good for that week. So be sure to check back each week for the bonus entries …and have fun!
For your MANDATORY ENTRY – YOU MUST DO THIS TO ENTER THE CONTEST:
For your BONUS ENTRIES FOR WEEKS 5 & 6:
- Tweet the following “Hannah Montana / @MileyCyrus Concert tix Giveaway! Visit http://ow.ly/jS82 for details & plz RT @pediatricsafety #pedsafe” (You may tweet once daily = 1 entry)
- Share this contest on your favorite social networking site ” Click share at the bottom of the post and provide the URL where you shared it on the form (Each share = 1 entry)
- Name and describe one post from the home page of the site Answer on the form below (Answer = 2 entries, so remember to submit 2 forms)
- Blog about this contest – including a request for your readers to tweet or blog about it. ” Include the blog URL on the form (Blogging = 2 entries, so remember to submit 2 forms)
- Join the ANSR for Kids (Ambulances Need Safety Regulations) cause on Facebook and send invites to your friends – help us spread the word that things have got to change http://apps.facebook.com/causes/299331?m=3f1cca43 (Join the cause = 3 entries, so remember to submit 3 forms)
- Sign the ANSR for Kids petition and leave a comment - help us tell Congress that Ambulances Need Safety Regulations for Kids http://www.rallycongress.com/pediatric-safety/2168/ansr-kids-ambulances-need-safety-regulations/ (Signing the petition = 3 entries, so remember to submit 3 forms)
Please note: Each contest (Atlanta and New York) requires a minimum of 20 valid participants for tickets to be awarded - see details in contest rules below
**CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2 WINNERS **
Our Atlanta Winner: for Miley Cyrus tickets at Philips Arena - Kimberly Sloane #16 – with a Mandatory Entry
Our NY Winner: for a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com – Dora Gouli - #152 – with an Additional Entry: Signed the Petition (Child safety should be taken very seriously and hopefully this petition on more secure transportation features for ambulances does not get ignored)
Finally…Contest Rules:
Welcome to the summer of Miley, the summer of kids and the summer of Pediatric Safety.
We hope you find a home at our new community, and that you believe like we do: we’re in this together…and where 
kids health and safety are concerned… ONE OUCH IS DEFINITELY TOO MANY!!
easidream
Hello, I’m Lynda, mum to six lovable and lively children and inventor of easidream®
When my sixth child, Bradley was born, he cried constantly and it was a nightly struggle to settle him to sleep…a struggle that went on until he was two and a half years old! I tried everything to soothe him off to sleep, but I discovered that the most reliable way was to lean over the cot sides and create a ‘rocking cot’ motion by moving the mattress up and down. Having scoured shops and the internet for any product that would replicate this movement (and relieve my backache!), I realised that there was nothing suitable out there, so I went on to take the ‘massive step’ of developing a product of my own – easidream®
For the next few years I researched the problem as deeply as possible, canvassing valuable input from sleep experts, university departments and medical professionals like midwives, child psychologists and paediatricians. I also consulted with the baby care industry and product design teams and, of course, surveyed many parents with young babies. At last, after a 7-year gestation easidream® was born!
The finished product has been meticulously designed and researched. I considered it was essential for easidream® to undergo proper scientific trials to validate its efficiency… it was no good just me saying it worked, I needed to be 100% sure that it did! I embarked on a year long period of research in conjunction with University of Brighton medical experts, which involved testing both the moving platform and the soothing sounds on a wide selection of babies. These studies not only revealed just how effective easidream® was at promoting healthy sleep patterns, but also showed that it encourages parents to adopt safe sleep practices.
The findings revealed:
- Average crying time on easidream® was reduced from 18 minutes to less than 1 minute
- All of the babies that took part in the trials remained happily settled on their backs; great news in respect of SIDS
- Time to settle to sleep in some cases was reduced by up to 95%
We all know that when a new baby arrives, uninterrupted sleep is rare and we have to adapt to shorter, broken nights and savour every moment of sleep we can catch. But although we think our bodies are coping with just a few ‘catnaps’ a night, continuous lack of sleep eventually catches up on us all; it’s vitally important that we understand just how crucial sleep is to the whole family’s well being… not just for healthy child development, but also for the general health and well being of everyone in the household. Did you know that it has been proven that well rested children develop faster, are healthier and have fewer behavioural problems? With adults, lack of sleep has been proven to affect both memory and cognitive skills…. What more can I say? I was determined to invent a product that would not only help soothe particularly fractious babies, but also promote the formation of a healthy sleep pattern, so both babies and parents could benefit from a good night’s rest.
easidream® actually assists in encouraging the formation of a healthy sleep pattern plus it encourages babies to self settle on their back in the cot, which is great news in the fight against SIDS. It also solves the problem of sleep deprivation for the whole family by rewarding them with those valuable hours of sleep they so richly deserve. End result: happy, healthier babies and happy, healthier parents!
HEALTHFUL HINTS:
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Putting babies to sleep
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Make sure you place your baby with their feet at the foot of the cot (but not touching the end of the cot) , to reduce the likelihood of the baby wriggling down and becoming overheated underneath any cot bedding, which may end up over the baby’s head. Overheating has been shown to greatly increase the likelihood of a SIDS related incident occurring.
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Also, remove soft toys from the cot, as they too could increase your baby’s temperature to an unsafe level. This is why ewan, our dream sheep, is secured to the cot bars and not positioned directly in line with your baby’s head, just in case he becomes detached – although this is extremely unlikely! (Some of our website shots are at an angle that may look like ewan is close to the head, but I can assure you he’s not!)
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Always ensure your baby is placed to sleep on their back; again this is incredibly important in reducing the likelihood of a SIDS incident occurring. (The beauty of easidream® is that it has been proven to actually help baby’s settle to sleep on their backs and so parents are more likely to follow the recommended safe sleep guidelines.)
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While all of this is consistent with the American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Safe Sleeping , each baby is unique. Always remember to ask your doctor what’s best for your baby’s sleep.
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If they wake up or refuse to sleep:
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…it is extremely important that you go and check your baby to determine the reason why. We have spent a great deal of time researching this particular area and having consulted medical professionals, and it is why we decided against having an automatic sound activated feature or a remote control that would “restart” the soother. As this is such a vulnerable age group, we consider it vitally important that parents return to their baby to remedy any problem – dirty nappy, thirsty, hungry etc. For healthy, happy sleep times we believe that interaction with your baby is vital and we strongly encourage this practise.
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