Contact:  Elise Marsh

                 (703)209-3787

McLean, VA - Delegate Barbara Comstock, and the Fairfax County SAFE Kids Coalition are pleased to announce that they are hosting a community town hall entitled: Keep Your Child Safe This Summer. The meeting will be held on June 7 at 7:30pm at the Great Falls Library.

All parents, caregivers, camp counselors, childcare providers, and community members are invited to attend.  Topics that will be covered include water safety, helmet/bike safety, accidental poisoning, and Lyme disease.  A big focus of this event will be keeping children safe near the water.

Great Falls resident, Rebecca Fish, who will participate in the town hall, leads the coalition efforts for drowning prevention and will discuss her research and findings from the Virginia Drowning Prevention project.  "Did you know that drowning remains the leading cause of accidental death for young children in Virginia?  Most victims are little boys, and these accidents usually happen with no splash or sound to alert caregivers.  In fact, almost 90% of children are being supervised at the time of a drowning accident," said Fish. 

This educational, water safety, program is endorsed by the Virginia American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell.

Inova Fairfax Hospital - Injury Prevention Coordinator, Linda Watkins, will review other important safety topics including bike safety/helmets, poison control, and car safety.

Inova Regional Trauma Services proudly leads the Fairfax County SAFE Kids Coalition and will have representatives  (police, fire and rescue) available to answer your questions.

Sharon Rainey, President and Founder of myNeighborsNetwork and author of "Making a Pearl from the Grit of Life," will also be discussing Lyme Disease and how to prevent it.

Who:        Delegate Barbara Comstock, 34th District

                  Rebecca Fish, leader of coalition efforts for drowning

                  prevention  

                  Fairfax County SAFE Kids Coalition

                  Sharon Rainey, President and Founder of

                  myNeighborsNetwork, and author of "Making a Pearl from the

                  Grit of Life"  

WHAT:    Keep Your Child Safe This Summer Town Hall Meeting

WHEN:    Tuesday, June 7, 2011

                    7:30-9:00 p.m.  

WHERE:  Great Falls Library                  

                    9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA 

Delegate Comstock issued the following statement:

            "I look forward to the opportunity to learn more about these important safety concerns and share the information with my constituents.  We all want to keep our children safe and we appreciate these community leaders coming together to help us prevent tragic accidents from occurring."

Help keep Fairfax County children SAFE THIS SUMMER.

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