Safe Kids Missoula
Safe Kids Missoula Coalition is dedicated to protecting kids from unintentional injuries—the number one cause of death to children in the United States—through action-based education, awareness, and planning to reduce traffic injuries, drowning, child gun access, falls, burns, poisonings, and more.
The Missoula Coalition was established in 1991 and has been led by Community Health Alliance since 2014. The Coalition includes safety experts and volunteers from more than 30 nonprofit and government agencies. Our Coalition engages more than 80 volunteers and reaches more than 2,000 children, parents, and caregivers were reached with safety education each year.
Why It Matters
When a child dies or is seriously hurt as the result of a preventable injury, families’ lives are changed forever. But, the important thing to remember about preventable injuries is that they are preventable.
When we talk about preventing injuries, we’re not talking about skinned knees, bruised shins, and scraped elbows. Those are telltale signs of a curious child exploring the world, pushing limits, and seeking adventure. The Safe Kids Missoula Coalition knows there are things we can do to ensure those bumps and bruises don’t turn into disabling injuries and deaths. Since Safe Kids Worldwide was founded in 1988, the unintentional injury rate among children has decreased by nearly 60 percent. The efforts of more than 400 coalitions across the U.S. provide families with information and resources they need to keep children safe. Because no family should ever lose a child to a preventable injury.
Get Involved
Partners dedicated to preventing childhood injury are welcome to join the Safe Kids Missoula Coalition. We invite you to join the Coalition’s efforts to reduce childhood injuries so that children in western Montana have the chance to grow up healthy and safe, and experience all the great things about childhood.
To support or volunteer with the Safe Kids Missoula Coalition, please contact Community Health Alliance at (406) 926-2522 or fill out an online application. You can also join our Safe Kids Missoula Safety Advocates.
Safe Kids Spotlight
Each month, we feature one of our Coalition partners and share information about the important work they do to make safety a community priority in western Montana. This month, our Safe Kids Spotlight is on Be SMART.
The Be SMART framework is designed to help parents and adults normalize conversations about gun safety and take responsible actions that can prevent firearm injuries and suicides. There are many instances where children have unintentionally hurt or killed themselves using a firearm in Montana, and this happens to hundreds of U.S. children each year.
Storing firearms responsibly is critical to protect children from accessing a gun on their own and injuring themselves or others. It’s also an important step in preventing those in crisis from accessing fatal means. The Be SMART program helps to protect kids and teens from unintentional shootings and suicide.
You can learn more about Be SMART at besmartforkids.org or by following them on Facebook.