Washington State Safe Kids Coalition

Who We Are

A growing network locally, nationally, globally

Safe Kids Washington is a network of 13 local community coalitions serving 17 counties across the state to prevent the No. 1 killer of children – unintentional injury. Our mission is to create safe and injury free communities in Washington State. Our focus is on children age 0-19 years old. We believe the best way to share health and safety with a community is through its community members. Our coalitions are led by local injury prevention coordinators living and working in the communities they serve. These coordinators organize community members around events and strategies to inform, educate, and support communities in preventing injuries and keeping children safe, healthy and out of the emergency room.

Safe Kids Washington is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of over 400 coalitions in over 20 countries focused on preventing unintentional childhood injury. The state office for Safe Kids Washington is based at Washington State Department of Health and collaborates with other state leaders across the US to develop and share best practices in injury prevention with local coalitions.

What We Do

Preventing childhood injuries at home, in and around the car, and at play

Our efforts focus on:

• Child and teen passenger safety
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety
• Recreation and sports safety
• Medication safety and poison prevention
• Drowning prevention and water safety
• Fire, burn, and carbon monoxide safety
• Infant safe sleep
• Safe firearm storage

We address these risk areas by:

• teaching families and communities about child injury risks and prevention
• providing lifesaving devices such as child safety seats, helmets and smoke alarms to families
• evaluating solutions for injury risks
• advocating for and improving child safety laws and regulations
• promoting corporate leadership in child safety through effective and sustainable partnerships

How We Do It

Local leaders create sustainable coalitions

Injury happens locally; therefore, we use a locally led model. Lead agencies support a local coordinator and work with the community on topics of child safety that are relevant to that community with the cooperation and support of local community members that care about those issues.

You can find additional resources, videos and tips to keep your family safe at Safe Kids Worldwide.