In 1994, at the 74th Annual Convention of the California-Nevada-Hawaii District of Kiwanis International, the House of Delegates voted to support the Kiwanis Cal-Nev-Ha Foundation in the development of the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Program (PTP).
That same year, partnerships were established with children’s hospitals in Oakland, Loma Linda, and San Diego. Additional partner hospitals were later added in Madera, Reno, and Honolulu.
As part of this partnership, the CNH Children’s Fund annually invites our partner hospitals to apply for a grant for unfunded needs directly related to pediatric trauma and injury prevention.
As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Program, we’re honored to continue our longstanding partnerships with these prestigious hospitals and are excited to share with you that thanks to your generosity, we have awarded more than $1,930,000 to our partner hospitals!
This year, we are awarding more than $128,000 in grants to our six Partner Hospitals. Here’s how each partner hospital will utilize its grant funds:
Valley Children’s Hospital shared that bicycle safety helmets remain one of the most requested items from parents, caregivers, and other community groups. When a bicycle helmet is requested, if an appropriate-sized helmet is available, the child receives not only a helmet but also instruction on how to properly fit and use the helmet. The hospital will use part of the grant to purchase 500 multi-sport helmets for distribution in the community. The remainder of the grant will be used to purchase training supplies for their Stop the Bleed educational program, a free educational program teaching individuals proper bleeding control techniques including how to use their hands, dressings, and tourniquets. Without these bleeding control efforts, victims can die within 5 to 10 minutes. Recently, the hospital shared with us that a Valley Children’s employee, who recently received her certification from a Stop the Bleed course, is being credited for saving a motorcyclist’s life by applying what she recently learned to control the motorcyclist’s life-threatening bleeding until emergency services arrived at the scene of the crash.
In their ongoing efforts to prevent Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV)-related injuries in Nevada, our partners at Renown Children’s Hospital were awarded a $15,000 grant to expand and strengthen their Nevada OHV Youth Helmet Program throughout the state, with a particular emphasis on rural communities, which they have identified as being at the highest risk. Building upon their success last year, their strategic approach to injury prevention remains rooted in the pillars of awareness, education, and resource distribution. In recent years, the popularity of OHVs has surged, with families embracing them as a great way to enjoy the outdoors. However, this trend has also resulted in a concerning increase in pediatric injuries related to OHVs. Over the last three years, pediatric OHV-related injuries ranked as the third leading cause of injury in the northern Nevada region. Notably, Renown reported that injury severity was nearly twice as high among children not wearing helmets compared to those who were properly protected, with approximately half of these injuries occurring beyond a 50-mile radius of the hospital, the region’s sole trauma center.
In 2012, our partners at Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women and Children received a $25,000 grant from the CNH Children’s Fund which they used to create Hawaii’s first comprehensive pediatric burn program, develop a curriculum for an educational program for Pediatric Burn Care, and create a care guide for parents. This year, we’re thrilled to award Kapi’olani with another $25,000 grant which they will use to expand the Keiki Injury Prevention Program to allow Kapi‘olani to increase injury prevention programs statewide!
Without grants from the CNH Children’s Fund, many of the injury prevention programs at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital-Oakland would not exist. For instance, nearly 20 years ago, the hospital’s injury prevention coordinator developed the “Keeping Safe from Injury” booklet which was translated into Spanish; however, the hospital lacked the funds needed to produce this booklet. With grant funds from the CNH Children’s Fund, the booklet was printed and has since been translated into eight more languages, all thanks to Kiwanis! This year’s grant of $20,000 will allow the hospital to continue their longstanding injury prevention program and will be used to purchase sleepsacks, cribettes, home safety items, helmets, child safety seats and Stop the Bleed kits for distribution to families within Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
Last year, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego received more than $45,000 from the CNH Children’s Fund – the largest grant ever awarded to a partner hospital – that allowed them to replace their aging van which they use at numerous community events throughout the county. Other programs that have benefited from Kiwanis grant funds over the years include a drowning prevention program, the Kiwanis Home Safety Program, and the Kiwanis Ride Safe Program. This year, the hospital will use their $29,562.50 grant to provide supportive education to families regarding bike and roadway safety, and give children the opportunity to build bike skills through participating in a bicycle rodeo event.
Safe Kids Inland Empire, a program of Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, is making significant strides in San Bernardino and Riverside counties by collaborating with more agencies and child passenger safety technicians to support families with children who have special needs. These families often face challenges in finding safe transportation for their children, who may require adaptive or expensive car seats. Unfortunately, the current training for child passenger safety technicians does not adequately address the complex issues surrounding transportation for children with special needs. As a result, many of these children are treated at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital for injuries sustained for not being properly restrained in the car.
Having set a goal to expand services and opportunities for these families the hospital aims to ensure that children with special needs can safely and legally attend their appointments and travel in general and will use their $24,000 grant from the CNH Children’s Fund to purchase child safety seats, including medical safety seats, and provide Child Passenger Safety training and recertification to local injury prevention volunteers with a focus on supporting families with children who have special needs.
We’re incredibly honored to collaborate with these amazing children’s hospitals to reduce preventable childhood injuries and death and wish to thank YOU for making this possible. It is only through your support that our partner hospitals can continue to develop and expand their injury prevention efforts, ensuring all children live happy, healthy and safe lives.