Atrium Medical Center’s Level III Trauma Program and Middletown Division of Fire and Emergency Medical Services—both members of the Warren County Safe Communities Coalition—are urging Middletown children to wear their bicycle helmets this summer to help prevent injury.
As part of its safety outreach throughout the city, the Middletown Division of Fire will be looking for whether children are wearing their helmets or not during summer months. Children who are wearing their helmets will be rewarded with a voucher for a free small ice cream cone.
Those seen not wearing their helmets will receive a voucher to pick up a free bicycle helmet while supplies last from Atrium Medical Center’s Level III Trauma Center, located at One Medical Center Drive, Middletown, Ohio, 45005. Helmets will be available for pick-up at the hospital between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays by calling (513) 974-4713 to reach Ann Brock, Atrium’s trauma outreach coordinator and Warren County Safe Communities coordinator.
“The Middletown Division of Fire sees this as a very important program because we often respond to children who are injured in accidents where they were not wearing helmets, particularly in the summer months. Any way we can help encourage children to wear their helmets, the Middletown Division of Fire paramedics are extremely interested in assuring this occurs,” said Middletown Fire Chief Paul Lolli.
The helmet safety program kicked off on Friday, June 30. “We want to make it fun and easy for children to practice good safety habits by wearing a helmet while riding bicycles, and are grateful to our partners for helping make this program possible,” said Ann Brock, of Atrium’s trauma program.
Bicycle helmets were generously donated to Warren County Safe Communities for this safety awareness effort.
A safer bicycle ride starts with a properly fitted helmet, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition to a helmet, those who receive vouchers and pick up helmets from Atrium Medical Center as part of this program in summer 2017 will also receive information from the Traffic Safety Administration about how to properly fit a bicycle helmet. Some bicycle crashes can be avoided if motorists and cyclists follow the rules of the road and pay close attention on roadways to each other, according to the federal traffic safety agency.
Atrium Medical Center maintains full accreditation as Warren County’s only Level III Trauma Center and serves Butler County, providing rapid assessment, resuscitation, initiation of appropriate treatment and ongoing care for all forms of traumatic injury.
Warren County Safe Communities Coalition members include Atrium Medical Center, Warren County law enforcement agencies, local government agencies, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Warren County Career Center. The coalition focuses on motor vehicle and traffic safety awareness initiatives throughout the year. Follow Warren County Safe Communities Coalition on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Warren-County-Safe-Communities-602341016599781/.
Atrium Medical Center is a full-service hospital and Level III Trauma Center located conveniently along the Interstate 75 corridor at exit 32, One Medical Center Drive in Middletown, between Cincinnati and Dayton. The hospital, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2017, employs more than 1,500 people in full-time, part-time and on-call positions. Atrium is operated by the Dayton-based nonprofit Premier Health system.
