Dallas Helps Safe Kids was created by Dallas Hartman as a way to give back to the communities where he practices law. The goal is to prevent injuries to children through education and the distribution of safety devices. As a personal injury lawyer, Dallas Hartman has seen the devastation caused by serious injuries. Injuries to children can affect an entire community, especially when that injury could have been prevented.
Safe Kids Erie
Using the motto “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure,” Dallas Hartman sought out to find an organization to partner with to distribute safety devices and to educate children and parents. In 2010, Dallas contacted Safe Kids Erie and found out that funding for safety devices had been cut. At that time, Dallas Helps Safe Kids donated $50,000 to Safe Kids Erie to provide bicycle helmets, smoke detectors, car seats, smoke detectors, and educational materials to families with children.
Bike helmets for the community
In Erie County alone, Safe Kids Erie fitted and distributed over one thousand bike helmets to children. This included 700 helmets to Jefferson Elementary School students on Safe Kids Day. Bicycle helmets are required for riders according to Pennsylvania law, but they continue to be overlooked as a required piece of equipment for parents and children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 500,000 people suffer bicycle injuries each year. Annually, 700 cyclists die from their injuries, with 62 percent of those deaths resulting from head injuries. In a typical year, children 15 years old and younger are the victims of more than half of the fatal bike accidents.
Car seats and booster seats
Through help from Dallas Helps Safe Kids, Safe Kids Erie distributed over one hundred car and booster seats, along with thousands of brochures on car safety for children. In addition, Dallas and Safe Kids Erie worked with the Pennsylvania State Police to operate car seat checks at local businesses. In one afternoon, over thirty car seats were replaced because they were not the proper size for the child riding in it, or because the car seat was part of a safety recall.
Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
Dallas Helps Safe Kids also provided smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors were also supplied to families throughout Erie County. The distribution of these detectors was an effort to continue the mission of the Erie Fire Department, which is to prevent all fire-related deaths to children. Other safety items donated included backpacks with reflectors on them. In addition, cribs and car seats for special needs children were also funded by Dallas Helps Safe Kids.
Concussion prevention and management
Most recently, Dallas Helps Safe Kids’ goal of preventing injury has evolved to include concussion prevention. Dallas has partnered with Safe Kids Mercer and the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine to provide educational seminars to parents, coaches, athletes, trainers and medical professionals. The seminars provide education to educate them about the use of ImPACT software and the symptoms of concussions.