Teach them early.

That’s been the mantra of Safe Kids East Central, led by the MCG Children’s Medical Center, since its inception. And now, thanks to a $95,000 grant by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Safe Kids East Central can do that better than ever.

The grant will be used to provide an injury prevention program to local schools. Known as Risk Watch, the school-based program helps teach children about eight risk areas: motor vehicles, drowning, fire/burns, falls, poisoning, guns, pedestrian/bike and strangulation/suffocation.

“This very generous grant from FEMA has enabled Safe Kids and the MCG Children’s Medical Center to do something that we have been working toward for years - provide schools with an established curriculum to help teach children early about safety issues,” said Rene Hopkins, Coordinator of Safe Kids East Central. “Funds will support the purchase of the curriculum, props, printed materials and supplies to enable teachers to provide these invaluable lessons.”

The funds will also support the purchase of Sparky’s Hazard House, an award-winning 3-D fire safety education simulator. Hopkins will use the interactive display in school-based presentations and other events.

The ten thousand students of Columbia County’s 17 elementary schools will be the first to benefit. “By partnering with Columbia County schools, the Columbia County Fire and Sheriff’s departments, the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and others, we hope to reach our goal of reducing the rate of accidental injuries by 10 percent within the first year of implementation,” said Hopkins.

Risk Watch is a program of the National Fire Protection Association.

MCG Health System is composed of three organizations - MCG Health Inc. and the clinical services offered by the faculty of the Medical College of Georgia and the members of the MCG Physicians Practice Group.  MCG Health, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation operating the MCG Medical Center, MCG Children’s Medical Center, the MCG Sports Medicine Center, MCG Ambulatory Care Center, the Georgia Radiation Therapy Center and related clinical facilities and services.  MCG Health, Inc. was formed to support the research and education mission of the Medical College of Georgia, and to build the economic growth of the CSRA, the state of Georgia and the Southeast by providing an environment for delivering the highest level of primary and specialty health care.  For more information, please visit www.MCGHealth.org.