The ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation’s mission is to prevent brain, spinal cord, and other traumatic injuries through education, research and advocacy. They empower each of their chapter sites to provide education to students of all ages in an effective and thought provoking way. Through the Injury Prevention Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, our Injury Prevention Specialists teach a ThinkFirst general safety course to school-aged children in Massachusetts. The goal of this course is to get children to “think first” before making decisions that relate to their safety at home, school, and during play. We cover a range of topics during each session, which includes booster seat/seat belt use, helmet use, safe walking practices, water safety, fire safety, and playground safety. Additionally, each school visited receives an interactive booklet for their students, which allows the students a more in depth way to continued to learn about safety in a fun, engaging way. The vision for our ThinkFirst initiative here at Boston Children’s Hospital is to reach as many students as possible in the Greater Boston area, through presentations not only in the school setting but also at family safety fairs, community events, and children’s summer camps.
