‘Buckle Up for Life’ Safety Program Strives to Save Lives of Hispanic Families

The FINANCIAL —  LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), this past weekend co-hosted a “Celebration of Safety” in conjunction with the 'Buckle Up for Life' program, at an event held at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in East Los Angeles, California. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hispanic children are three times more likely to die in a vehicle crash than Caucasian children. To address this health disparity, 'Buckle Up For Life,' or “Abróchate a la Vida,” was created by medical trauma specialists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and funded through a grant from Toyota. The program is designed to educate Hispanic families on the importance of keeping their families safe while driving.
 
“We were seeing a disproportionate number of Hispanic children coming into the hospital with severe crash-related injuries and we knew we had to do something about it,” said Dr. Rebeccah L. Brown, Associate Director, Trauma Services at Cincinnati Children’s.
 
“Safety is a priority for Toyota,” said Pat Pineda, Toyota’s group vice president of national philanthropy. “In addition to designing and manufacturing some of the safest vehicles on the road today, we are dedicated to supporting education programs that help drivers and passengers develop responsible habits to protect them on the road at every stage of life.”
 
'Buckle Up for Life' meets Hispanics in their communities, delivering information in a faith-based setting. To date, Toyota, Cincinnati Children’s and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has joined together with four local churches to deliver safety and prevention education to program participants.  Planning for the expansion of the program to other US cities is currently underway.
 
“What we saw when we began 'Buckle Up for Life' in Greater Cincinnati was that, after participating in the program, the number of adults and children using seat belts and car seats had more than doubled. When we saw those results, we knew we had found a successful and sustainable model that was meeting the pressing needs of the community,” added Pineda. “Toyota is funding the program’s expansion to Los Angeles to build on this tremendous success.”
 
The congregations of the four participating churches have devoted weeks of Sunday school classes and sermons to learning about critical safety behaviors. At the closing events, such as the one held today, participants learned about vehicle safety and injury prevention through free car seat inspections, safety demonstrations and informational booths. Families who did not previously own a child car safety seat were given one, compliments of the program. Festivities also included live music, food and arts and crafts for the children.
 
“Injury and death due to vehicle-related injuries is preventable,” said Dr. Jeffery S. Upperman, Director of Trauma at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “If we can save just one child’s life, all of our efforts have been worth it.”