Keeping Kids Alive team hosts impactful sessions at the #ForKidsHealth Summit

The #ForKidsHealth Summit brought together passionate advocates, health care professionals, educators and community leaders who are dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children. The event was a powerful celebration of Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin’s (the Alliance) 30-year anniversary, and an exciting opportunity to look ahead and join voices for kids health.

The Alliance’s Keeping Kids Alive team hosted three impactful sessions focused on injury prevention stemming from child death reviews, enhancing health equity and vicarious trauma prevention.

• From Planning to Prevention: Keeping Kids Alive in Wisconsin: Led by Jamie Penza from Waukesha County Public Health and Stephanie Thiede, RN, BSN from Outagamie County Public Health, this session provided an overview of statewide child injury and fatality data. Attendees learned about the prevention work stemming from child death reviews, and were provided examples of ongoing prevention projects in local communities.
• Enhancing Equity in Fatality Review: Abby Collier, DrPH from the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention, discussed the significance of equity in child fatality review. This session offered strategies to influence policy, examine systems of oppression impacting children and identify actionable steps to disrupt biases and incorporate equity into fatality review programs.
• Resilience for Professionals Exposed to Vicarious Trauma: The Alliance’s Amy L. Cline, MSW, APSW provided a brief overview of child fatality review while addressing the vicarious trauma that accompanies this challenging work. Strategies for transforming vicarious trauma into vicarious post-traumatic growth were shared, emphasizing the importance of mental well-being for professionals in this field.

Many attendees left with new partnerships and collaborative ideas that will undoubtedly strengthen initiatives statewide. We are grateful for our incredible partners and presenters, who provided their expertise for such impactful sessions!

Special highlight: #ClearTheCrib Challenge 
A particularly exciting moment during the #ForKidsHealth Summit was when the injury prevention and death review initiative hosted the #ClearTheCrib Challenge. October is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month, and attendees watched as the Alliance’s current and former executive directors went head-to-head to #ClearTheCrib in under 10 seconds! (Click here to watch the full video.) 

While the #ClearTheCrib Challenge was a fun and engaging activity, the key takeaway is serious – babies sleep safest when they are:

• Alone
• On their back
• In a crib
• In smoke-free air

The #ClearTheCrib challenge is one of many ways our team raises awareness and provides education about reducing sleep-related infant deaths by promoting safe sleep practices.

A collective commitment to a healthier future for Wisconsin children

As the event concluded, the collective commitment to prioritizing children’s health was palpable, and the Keeping Kids Alive team left feeling energized to continue to partner to create a healthier future for our children. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Child Death Review, Fetal and Infant Mortality Review, Wisconsin Child Death Review State Advisory Council and all our injury prevention partners who attended. Your dedication and support play a crucial role in advancing our mission to join voices for kids health.

Find more #ForKidsHealth Summit related resources, by clicking here.