SAFE KIDS Austria/ GROSSE SCHUETZEN KLEINE

GROSSE SCHÜTZEN KLEINE / Safe Kids Austria

Create a save world for our children

Accidents are the number one cause of death in children.

Since 1983, the "Austrian Committee of Injury Prevention in Childhood", short GROSSE SCHÜTZEN KLEINE (Adults protect Children) / Safe Kids Austria, is continually working for more child safety, providing information on the importance of accident prevention in infancy and the various ways to achieve it. The chairman of the Pediatric Surgery of the University Pediatric Clinic in Graz, Prof. Dr. Michael Höllwarth, has been president of the society since 1983.

Child-Safety shows effects!

170.000 infant accidents occur annually throughout Austria, from which appr. 40 are fatal. More than 25 years of work for more child safety in Austria demonstrate: it has lasting effects! The number of infant accidents has decreased dramatically: those accidents with a non-lethal outcome have decreased about 37%, whereas those with a deadly outcome have decreased about 83%!

Share the knowledge - reduce accidents!

An essential part of the work is the research, which is conducted in cooperation with the University Clinic for Pediatric Surgery in Graz. In the 2003 founded Center for Infant Accident Research in Graz, the majority of accidents is documented statistically and analyzed accurately. Based on the outcome of this research, GROSSE SCHÜTZEN KLEINE/Safe Kids Austria develops its campaigns together with various partners. These manifold campaigns include actions, such as bicycle helmet or children's safety seat checks, information material such as a didactic CD-Rom for primary school kids, a children's safety box, various brochures or trainings for professionals. The BÄRENBURG (Bear's Castle), the first Children's Safety House in Graz, is equipped with an authentic, completely furnished flat, in which information about safety devices is provided through guided tours for adults and children. The pilot-project "Child Safe Community Deutschlandsberg" realizes child safety work by working together with people and institutions from every layer of Deutschlandsberg's society.

Successful Network

Austrian Pediatric Surgeries and Pediatric Clinics have established a successful nationwide cooperation on the issue of accident prevention in infancy over the last years. In order to reach families throughout Austria, GROSSE SCHÜTZEN KLEINE, is operating via this clinic-based network, having branch offices in Carinthia, Salzburg and Lower-Austria, as well as cooperation partners in Vorarlberg and Tyrol.

Together strong, worldwide!

GROSSE SCHÜTZEN KLEINE maintains a vivid exchange with internationally acclaimed networks for child safety, such as the European Child Safety Alliance and Safe Kids Worldwide, in order to act within a global context and use the common potential for new and great ideas. In 2007, the society of GROSSE SCHÜTZEN KLEINE was honored with the Safe Kids Worldwide Innovation Award, as well as with the WHO-CEHAPE NGO Best Practice Award for its efforts . In 2009, it received the Austrian Communication Award.

More information on various issues of child safety: www.grosse-schuetzen-kleine.at