Safe Kids Heroes

5 Quick Questions with a Safe Kids Coordinator

In our new blog series, “5 Quick Questions with a Safe Kids Coordinator,” we are proud to introduce you to the Safe Kids Coordinators who dedicate their time and considerable talent to keeping kids safe in your community and beyond.

Our first coordinator is Kim Gray, Safe Kids Oklahoma.

1. Why did you want to become Safe Kids Coordinator?

I work in Oklahoma's only pediatric rehab, The Children's Center Rehabilitation Hospital, and my colleagues and I were tired of seeing kids in the rehab unit due to preventable injuries from car crashes, ATV's, pedestrian crashes, etc. We decided we had to do more to prevent kids from needing rehab at all!

2. What’s your favorite part of the job?

My favorite part of being a Safe Kids Coordinator is getting to work with dedicated, passionate injury prevention folks to protect kiddos and their families from having to deal with tragedy.

3. What’s something about the job most people would be surprised to learn?

What surprises me the most about being a Safe Kids coordinator is how difficult it is to convince some people to change dangerous behaviors such as texting while driving, not wearing a seat belt, or not wearing a helmet on an ATV. I naively thought that if you shared a safety message that people would change their behavior!

4. What’s your number one piece of advice for parents?

My number one piece of advice to parents is to model safe behavior such as wearing your seat belt in the car and wearing a helmet on a bike. You are your child's number one best teacher!