Local Cribs for Kids® Organization Hosts Second National Conference
The Second National Cribs for Kids® Conference – Safe Sleepin 3D “Defining, Defending and Disseminating the Infant Safe Sleep Message”was held at the Omni William Penn Hotel, April 20 - 23, 2010 in downtown Pittsburgh. This is the second conference hosted by Cribs for Kids® which brought proponents of reform in the way infant deaths are investigated under one roof. Cribs for Kids® Partners came from across the country to meet and compare best practices and at the same time give prospective partners an opportunity to learn about ways to begin a Cribs for Kids® Program in their communities.
This gathering of close to200 professionals from across the country continues a national vital dialogue that addresses the importance of education for parents and caregivers regarding infant safe sleep practices and the need for accurate and consistent classification and coding of sudden unexplained infant deaths.
Keynote speakers included:
● Carrie K.Shapiro-Mendoza, PhD, MPH
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
● Theresa Covington, MPH-Director, National Center For Child Death Review
● Meri-K Appy – President,Home Safety Council
● Suad Wanna-Nakamura,Ph.D, - Physiologist, U S Consumer Products Safety Commission
● Michael Dwyer - Executive Director, Juvenile Products Manufacturing Association
● Eileen Tyrala, MD, FAAP - Neonatologist, General Pediatrician, St.Christopher's Hospital for Children
● Martine Hackett, Ph.D. -Deputy Director to Office of Medical Director, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
● Tanya PaganRaggio-Ashley, MD, MPH, FAAP – Medical Officer, Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services HRSA
● Fern R. Hauck, M.D., M.S. - Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Director, International Family Medicine Clinic, University of Virginia
Final Keynote speaker was Peter Mitchell, President, Salter Mitchell/ Marketing for Change Inc. A former journalist and legislative staffer, Peter got into social marketing a decade ago when he was asked to direct the marketing campaign for a new anti-tobacco initiative in Florida. Peter has developed and directed dozens of social marketing campaigns across the globe, first as a senior marketing specialist for the Academy for Educational Development, a large international non-profit, and later as a founder of Marketing for Change, which is now part of Salter-Mitchell.
Cribs for Kids® was created in 1998 by SIDS of PA Executive Director, Judith Bannon, when District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, Jr. and Allegheny County Child Death Review Team members determined that 90 percent of the infants diagnosed as SIDS in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) had died in places other than a properly assembled and maintained crib. Thanks to the growth of the Child Death Review System and increased use nationwide of the CDC protocol for infant death scene investigation, there is now widespread recognition of the risk factors infants face when they are placed in unsafe sleep environments. The mission of Cribs for Kids® is to provide infant safe sleep education and give the gift of a crib to families in need. Currently there are Cribs for Kids® programs operating in 250 communities in 45 states where safe sleep education materials and cribs have been distributed to over50,000 families.
For more information about the Cribs for Kids® Conference, please go to www.cribsforkids.org.
