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Play it Safe with North Oaks Sept. 30
[HAMMOND, La.]— Make plans to
attend the North Oaks Medical Center Level
II Trauma Center’s 3rd annual “Play It Safe”
event with your family Saturday, Sept. 30,
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The free, interactive
safety event will be held at Cate Square Park
in Historic Downtown Hammond.
Play It Safe’s goal is to increase safety
awareness among families with children,
age 12 and younger, through fun-filled
educational demonstrations and activities.
“Our goal is to help prevent unintentional
injuries and deaths among children,”
explains Ashley Miller, event organizer
and North Oaks market strategist/business
development representative.
Each year in the U.S., more than 2,200
children – or six children a day – die at home
from unintentional injuries, and more than
3.5 million more children go to emergency
rooms for the kinds of injuries that commonly
happen in homes, according to Safe Kids
Worldwide.
These statistics hit close to home for Dr.
Marquinn Duke, trauma program medical
director for North Oaks. “We treat thousands
of children who suffer from injuries that
Gavin Johnson and Scott Sterbcow take Money Hill 4-Ball.
could have been prevented in any given
year,” Duke affirms.
Play It Safe zones will focus on areas and
activities where injuries are most likely to
occur. A “home zone” will offer prevention
activities focused on food, fire and home
hazards. An “outdoors and sports zone”
will promote proper shoe fit, as well as basic
sports, hunting, fishing and exploring safety.
The “wheels zone” will offer car seat, seat
belt and all-terrain vehicle safety demos, and
certified child passenger safety technicians
will be on hand to book one-on-one car
seat safety check appointments for anyone
interested at a later date. A bicycle course
and bicycle helmet giveaway will anchor
the wheel zone. The helmets will be fitted
and provided free of charge to the first 300
children, ages 2-12, pre-registered at www.
northoaks.org/safe. Pre-registration is not
required to attend the event, however.
According to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, wearing bike
helmets reduces head injuries by 85 percent
and brain injuries by 88 percent.
For more information, call North Oaks
Public Relations at (985) 230-6647.
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