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Thursday, November 06, 2008

UMC is Site Host for "Step Out for Safety" Walk

According to the Nevada Seat Belt Coalition, in 2007, 256 people in Nevada died in car crashes and 124 of them were not wearing seat belts. The organization states that almost half of these individuals would have survived if they had been properly restrained in the vehicles.

In order to promote the use of seat belts and proper child restraints in automobiles, UMC is a co-sponsor and site host for the 2nd Annual “Step Out for Safety” Walk. The walk will be held on Saturday, Nov. 8, 11 a.m. Participants should register at 10 a.m. at the walk registration booth located in the UMC Trauma & Children’s Center parking lot which is just off Goldring Avenue (major cross streets are Charleston Blvd. and Shadow Lane). Registration will take place on the day of the event. There is no pre-registration. The entry fee is $5 and walkers will receive a goody bag and a raffle ticket. The money will be used to sponsor educational outreach regarding seat belt use and child restraints in vehicles. The event is open to the public.

Participants will undertake a 1.5 mile walk in the area of Shadow Lane, Alta and Rancho. Event partners will serve as guides for walkers. Also, the route will be marked by signs. Water will be available to walkers. Before and after the walk, participants are invited to visit with the representatives of various organizations which are providing information about safe driving, pedestrian safety and healthcare. The representatives and information tables will be located in the Trauma Center parking lot. At the event, participants can receive free health screenings (blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index). Raffle prizes will be given away and the prizes will include movie tickets, a blood pressure kit and and an i-Pod. The group with the most participants will be awarded $250.

In addition to UMC, numerous community partners are co-sponsoring this event. Those partners include The Adam Thomas Memorial Fund (Adam Thomas was a 21-year-old college student who died in a car accident. He was not wearing a seat belt at the time. His mother, Kelly Thomas Boyers, started the fund to promote health and safety education and policy.); the Safe Community Partnership, an outreach program of the UNLV Transportation Research Center; the Nevada Department of Public Safety and its subdivision, the Office of Traffic Safety; Nevada Seatbelt Coalition; Valley Hospital Medical Center; United Healthcare and WorldDoc Foundation.

Contact Information:
Tammy McMahan
(702) 383-3617
Tammy.McMahan@umcsn.com
University Medical Center
1800 West Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89102