The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma celebrated its fifth anniversary with a visit by NASCAR team owner Richard Childress to Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, Ind. on July 25. Childress and his wife Judy established the Institute in 2008 to help save the lives of injured children across the U.S. by supporting research, education and awareness.
“When Judy and I learned that critical injury was responsible for the death of more children in the U.S. than all other causes combined, and how little attention this crisis was receiving nationally, we knew those kids needed a champion,” said Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing and co-founder of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma. “The more awareness and support we raise, the more lives we will save.”
Since its inception, the Childress Institute has made significant strides in improving the treatment of injured children in the U.S. An encouraging sign is the decrease of national childhood deaths from 2005 to 2010 from 12,388 to 9,523*.
“The Childress Institute is proud of the role we have played to increase awareness of pediatric trauma and to advocate for better medical treatment for these kids, not just in our own backyard, but in every community in the country,” said Dr. J. Wayne Meredith, the Institute’s executive director and chair of general surgery and director of the division of surgical sciences at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
Recent milestones include:
- Partnered with the Pediatric Trauma Society (PTS) to co-host a national pediatric trauma conference to begin work on a 10-year plan for advancing research, treatment and education
- Funded nearly $500,000 of research to improve the assessment and treatment of injured children, including the KIDS study to examine youth football head impacts
- Engaged national leaders in pediatric trauma clinical care to host web symposiums that taught innovative treatments and procedures for injured children to health care professionals around the world
- Invested more than $250,000 in the past two years to fund training courses for first responders, physicians, nurses and other health care professionals
The Childress Institute’s goal is to lead national efforts to reduce death and disability following injury to children less than 18 years of age. It is dedicated to improving outcomes for critically-injured children across the U.S. by investing resources in research, education and awareness. The Institute helps injured kids get the best care, when they need it the most.
To learn more about pediatric trauma, visit www.InjuredKids.org, or find the Childress Institute on Twitter @injuredkids and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ChildressPediatricTrauma.
RCR PR
