{"id":159453,"date":"2026-02-01T21:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T21:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/159453\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T21:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T21:14:11","slug":"buckle-up-helmet-on-o-c-agency-helps-families-protect-what-matters-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/159453\/","title":{"rendered":"Buckle up, helmet on: O.C. agency helps families protect what matters most"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Santa Ana resident Maria Trujillo spent a recent Saturday morning in Lake Forest with her husband and four children getting an education on car seats. To her surprise, she had been getting a few things wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I have four kids and I\u2019m like, \u2018I got this,\u2019\u201d Trujillo said. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for so long, and no \u2026 \u2018this needs to be buckled like this, and he can\u2019t go like this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the Safe Kids Orange County instructors were very nice and helpful as they adjusted the family\u2019s car seats and gave them free booster chairs for their children who are ages 9 and 11, as well as a car seat for their 4-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey actually took their time with every chair, with every kid,\u201d she said of the hour-long experience. \u201cThey went down the list.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A mom practices placing an infant in a car seat at the UCI Health car seat event.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Safe Kids Orange County)<\/p>\n

Amy Frias, Rady Children\u2019s Health (formerly Children\u2019s Hospital of Orange County) community health educator and Safe Kids Orange County coordinator, explained Safe Kids is run through the hospital and is a local coalition focused on preventing childhood injuries \u2014 the leading cause of death among children.<\/p>\n

\u201cAffiliated with Safe Kids Worldwide, SKOC promotes safety through education, advocacy and community engagement,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The coalition\u2019s services are free for parents, caregivers and children, and they include car seat inspections, bike helmet distribution and fittings, safety classes and drowning prevention programs. Parents can find free events to attend through the Safe Kids Orange County Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use data-driven, evidence-based strategies to focus on top local injury causes: motor vehicle crashes, drowning, falls, poisoning, pedestrian and bicycle injuries,\u201d Frias said. \u201cSKOC can provide these services because of the incredible support of our coalition \u2014 local police, fire, ambulance teams and other dedicated community organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said as the lead agency, which has operated as part of the hospital since 1999, Rady Children\u2019s Health provides staff support, resources and leadership for the coalition. The free educational, family-centered events are held throughout Orange County in neighborhoods, parks, schools and community centers. Frias said activities are determined based on their ability to promote child safety, support community engagement and align with awareness days or educational safety themes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey provide families with practical safety skills, encourage healthy habits and foster community connections \u2014 helping parents and children stay safe at home, school and on the go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Berna <\/p>\n

Berna Ni\u00f1o and Amy Frias at Walk to School Day at Wilson Elementary in Costa Mesa on Oct. 8, 2025.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Safe Kids Orange County)<\/p>\n

But she said it\u2019s more than simply an injury-prevention program, it\u2019s designed as a community resource to empower families to protect their own children.<\/p>\n

Retired Garden Grove Police Department Community Services Officer Kristen Backouris has been working with Safe Kids Orange County as an instructor since 2001. She began her partnership with the coalition as part of a community outreach program though the police department.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favorite programs is giving low-income families free car seats through the passenger safety outreach programs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Besides passenger safety, she\u2019s also an instructor in CPR and first aid, emergency preparedness, situational awareness and personal safety, helmet safety, pedestrian safety, bike safety, home security, crime prevention and water safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy general audience could be any age group,\u201d she said. \u201cI have done classroom presentations, classes by and in pools, community events, Neighborhood Watch meetings, library programs, summer camps, church groups as well as for police and fire departments. If there is a need and an opportunity presents itself, I try to jump in to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Berna <\/p>\n

Berna Ni\u00f1o, left, and Amy Frias at the Safe Kids Orange County Walk to School Day event held in October at Wilson Elementary in Costa Mesa.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Safe Kids Orange County)<\/p>\n

She said classes vary according to the needs of the organization and the community. For instance, some classes are offered to residents in specific areas because of injury statistics from hospitals, first responders and the American Academy of Pediatrics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel these programs and partnerships are important as many injuries can and should be prevented,\u201d she said. \u201cKids don\u2019t come with instruction manuals. Parenting skills change with the times. No one person can or will ever know everything there is about injury prevention. The more education and partnerships available to our communities, the more likely injuries can be prevented in the first place. I choose to continue to share what knowledge I have with those who will listen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Santa Ana resident Maria Trujillo spent a recent Saturday morning in Lake Forest with her husband and four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[77638,163,165,164,20035,3409,24086,15,1431,57287,1583,77636,7087,9240,984,73135,77637,77639],"class_list":["post-159453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-amy-frias","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-car-seat","tag-child","tag-community-center","tag-education","tag-family","tag-helmet","tag-hospital","tag-local-coalition","tag-parent","tag-partnership","tag-pedestrian","tag-rady-children","tag-safety-class","tag-skoc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}