Champions THE MAGAZINE OF ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION
Your Gifts Matter Because of you, kids like Ryan receive expert emergency care at Arkansas Children’s
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• CHAMPIONS • BETTER TODAY. HEALTHIER TOMORROW.
MAY/JUNE 2019
Your
Gifts
Matter!
Dear Champion for Children, For most kids, summertime comes and goes with a few minor bumps and scrapes, and plenty of happy memories. But sometimes, family outings to the lake, ball games at the sports field or bicycle rides with friends take an unexpected turn. A child is injured. That’s why, in this issue of Champions, we’re sharing the many ways your support helps prevent unintentional injuries during the summertime and all year long. When injuries do happen, the Emergency Departments (ED) at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) and Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW) are open 24/7 to provide expert, right-sized emergency care. On pages 4–5, you’ll meet a young boy whose life was changed when he was struck on the back of the head by a falling soccer goal, suffering a severe head injury. Three-year-old Ryan Hutchinson was rushed to the ACH ED where, because of you, he is better today and will be healthier tomorrow. Because of the generous support of the Northwest Arkansas community, the ED at ACNW is open and received 19,133 patient visits in its first year! Turn to pages 6–7 to read about 9-year-old Xavier Yandell-Teuton, who received treatment in the ACNW ED after suffering a broken arm. The Arkansas Children’s Injury Prevention Center’s mission is to reduce injury, death and disability in children through service, education, innovative research and advocacy. On pages 8–9 you can read about how the center’s team of experts works with partners throughout the state to educate families on effective prevention strategies. And finally, on pages 10–11, you'll read about how the Lennox Industries manufacturing plant in Stuttgart is making a real difference in their region through their generous support of safety awareness and emergency outreach and education. Unintentional injury visits to the EDs at ACH and ACNW increase during the summer months. But with your support, Arkansas Children’s will continue working to prevent these injuries through prevention, and providing expert emergency care when the unexpected happens. Thank you for helping us deliver a healthier tomorrow for children in Arkansas.
Fred Scarborough, CFRE President, Arkansas Children’s Foundation Chief Development Officer, Arkansas Children’s CHAMPIONS STAFF: Editor Becky McCauley Contributing Writers Ashley Leopoulos, Becky McCauley, Kyran Pittman, Caralisa Richardson Designer C. Waynette Traub Photographers Beth Hall, Ben Moody, Dero Sanford 2
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• CHAMPIONS • BETTER TODAY. HEALTHIER TOMORROW.
Arkansas Children’s Foundation Board of Directors Chair Charles B. Whiteside III* Vice Chair Jason LaFrance* Treasurer Jake Nabholz* President Fred Scarborough, CFRE* Ritter Arnold Sharon Bale Ginger Blackmon Frances Buchanan Stuart Cobb Steve Davison Marcy Doderer, FACHE* Kirk Dupps Harry C. Erwin III* Kim Fowler Sharilyn Gasaway* Robin George* Mike Gibson Sonja Yates Hubbard Brandi Joplin Jim McClelland Mandy Macke Barbara Moore Beverly Morrow Cindy Murphy Marshall Ney Lynn Parker Terry Quinn Sue Redfield Kate Schaffer Jennifer Schueck Michael Shelby Belinda Shults* Isaac Smith Claudia Strange Celia Swanson Emeritus Directors Robert G. Cress Don Edmondson Henry Rogers, MD
*Executive Committee Current as of May 1, 2019
Injury Prevention at Arkansas Children’s With your support, the Injury Prevention Center, the Simulation Education Center and Emergency Department community outreach programs at Arkansas Children’s are working to reduce unintentional injury to children through educating first responders, school nurses, parents and expectant mothers. These initiatives include car-seat safety, motor vehicle safety, injury prevention, bleed-emergency care, safety baby showers and more. From car seat assessments to ensure correct installation to baby showers that teach first-time, expectant mothers how to properly care for their babies to teen driving and helmet safety, Arkansas Children’s is reaching more children in more ways through effective prevention strategies—because of you.
Your gifts help protect children in Arkansas through injury prevention programs at Arkansas Children’s:
3,268
Arkansas first responders trained in pediatric emergency care through ED Outreach Education since 2014
397
people attended monthly safety baby showers*
230
1,250 car seat assessments and proper fittings*
people learned to care for bleeding emergencies through Stop the Bleed courses since March 2018
74%
996
of families receiving a car-seat assessment received a car seat*
families received Not Even a Minute, an award-winning book about preventing hot-car deaths*
71%
of Arkansas public schools equipped with Stop the Bleed kits since March 2018
*July 1, 2017–June 30, 2018
If you would like to support programs like the Injury Prevention Center and Emergency Department outreach, please visit giving.archildrens.org, call (800) 880-7491 or use the enclosed envelope. Thank you for being a champion for children! GIVING.ARCHILDRENS.ORG • CHAMPIONS • M AY/J U N E 2019
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Every Little Bit Matters Because of you, military family receives child- and family-centered care at Arkansas Children’s Hospital BY BECKY MCCAULEY AND KYRAN PITTMAN
K
ids love summertime...building forts outside with their friends, taking family vacations and playing in the water. Most of the time, these activities lead to lifelong happy memories—and the occasional minor accident or injury. But for Jessica and Andy Hutchinson, a simple Saturday family outing quickly turned scary. While Jessica ran errands, Andy took their three children—Morgan, 7, Cameron, 5, and 3-year-old Ryan— to a local sports field so Morgan could practice her soccer skills. Andy ran to retrieve the ball and turned around just in time to see the big, heavy soccer goal falling over. He barely breathed a sigh of relief as the goal cleared Cameron’s head, when he saw a horrifying sight: little Ryan lying motionless in the grass. As Andy cradled his unconscious son, he noticed a terrible bulge on Ryan’s forehead. Then he realized something that made his heart stop...Ryan wasn’t breathing. After calling 911, Andy performed CPR on his son until the helicopter
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arrived to take him to the Emergency Department (ED) at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH). Jessica says of those first terrifying moments in the ED: “Ryan’s care team was shouting his name. There were lots of people around him, so I couldn’t tell what was going on. It was so scary.” A CT scan of Ryan’s head showed the trauma was severe—he needed surgery immediately. The soccer goal had hit the back of Ryan’s head, causing multiple fractures and pushing part of his skull forward. In surgery, bone fragments were removed from his brain and his skull stabilized. Before Ryan had woken up from the first surgery, it was decided a second operation was necessary to relieve the swelling. Jessica remembers the first time she saw Ryan post-surgery: “There were so many stitches and all this swelling. Ryan was hooked up to machines and everything was beeping. He was in a room by himself with a nurse just for him.” “I just felt so sad.”
• CHAMPIONS • BETTER TODAY. HEALTHIER TOMORROW.
Understandably, Jessica and Andy had a lot of questions for Ryan’s surgeon: Would Ryan ever walk again? Talk again? Was his doctor worried about him making it through the first night? Ryan’s surgeon explained to Jessica and Andy that, although the surgery went well, he didn’t know what long-term effects Ryan would sustain. After surgery, Ryan was moved to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Although Jessica and Andy were nervous about moving to a different unit, it quickly became apparent their son—and their family—were in excellent hands. Jessica said, “The nurses were awesome. They wanted us to get something to eat, and then lay down to get some rest…especially Andy, after everything he’d been through. So they were not only advocating for Ryan, they were looking out for us as well.” When Morgan and Cameron were able to visit for the first time, Child Life specialists used photos and dolls to prepare them for how Ryan
Left: At Little Rock Air Force Base, where Andy is stationed as a C-130 pilot. Above: The Hutchinsons from left: Cameron, Andy, Ryan, Jessica and Morgan. would be different. And Child Life programs such as music therapy made all the difference to Ryan’s recovery. “My husband plays guitar and sings,” says Jessica. “Before Ryan could speak or was moving much, Andrew Ghrayeb, the music therapist, would come to our hospital room and play Ryan’s favorite songs. Ryan couldn’t do much, but he’d scoot to the edge of the bed so he could see and hear Andrew better.” Jessica and Andy are grateful to you for supporting the life-saving work happening at Arkansas Children’s every day. “You might feel like you’re throwing a little tiny stone into a great big pond,” says Jessica. “You might think, ‘Arkansas Children’s probably needs so much money and what can I really do?’ But your gift combined with everyone else’s makes a huge difference. Every little bit matters.” An Arkansas law—Jonathan’s Law—dictates soccer goals must be anchored properly to the ground, and Andy has become a passionate
Your support provides expert, life-saving emergency care for kids like Ryan. Visit www.giving.archildrens.org/music to see Ryan singing with ACH’s music therapist Andrew Ghrayeb. advocate for soccer goal safety. He describes Ryan’s recovery as the journey of “a thousand tiny little steps.” His parents say, if you met Ryan today, you probably couldn’t tell he’d ever had the accident. They say it’s a testament to the environment at Arkansas Children’s that Ryan enjoys going back for checkup visits.
And he’s not the only one—big sister Morgan recently expressed a wish to have her birthday party at the hospital. “It was a pretty traumatic event for us,” Andy says, “but it says a lot that the kids have such a positive experience with ACH.”
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AT THEIR BEST Northwest Arkansas boy receives emergency care close to home at Arkansas Children’s Northwest BY CARALISA RICHARDSON
X
avier Yandell-Teuton was having the best Saturday... until the 9-year-old took a turn on a hoverboard at his best friend’s house. Xavier fell off the board, landing on his hands and knees on the pavement. Xavier broke the radius and ulna bones in his arm—a nasty break with fractured ends. Xavier’s mom Kay rushed to meet him at a local hospital and was horrified to learn his injury would most likely require surgery, plates and pins. “I felt sick when I saw him,” Kay says. “Xavier looked green and had dark circles under his eyes. Prior to my arrival he was not given any pain medication, so I was seeing my son in shock.” Xavier’s care team made some calls looking for the best pediatric orthopedic surgeon in the area. They were quickly referred to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Waanders at Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW). “When I was told they were going to transfer Xavier to ‘Children’s,’ I thought we were
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“Pediatric orthopedic specialists know children’s bones,” says Kay. “They’re different. Once we arrived at Arkansas Children’s Northwest, the whole story changed.”
headed to Little Rock. At the time I was not aware a new children’s hospital had been built in Springdale,” Kay says. Xavier, exhausted and in pain, arrived at ACNW via ambulance at 2 a.m. When Kay and Xavier met with Dr. Waanders, they expected
• CHAMPIONS • BETTER TODAY. HEALTHIER TOMORROW.
to hear talk of surgery. Instead, Dr. Waanders told them surgery wouldn’t be necessary. “That was the best thing anyone could have said to me in that moment—no full anesthesia... no arm cut open...no scar.” Xavier was given medicine for pain, and then Dr. Waanders
used a mobile x-ray machine to set Xavier’s arm manually. Instead of undergoing surgery and recovery, Xavier’s arm was back in place in less than an hour. The care team placed Xavier’s arm into a temporary cast. He was sent home to keep it elevated above his heart for four days, allowing the swelling to go down. Then he wore a cast for three weeks followed by a splint for two weeks. “Pediatric orthopedic specialists know children’s bones,” says Kay. “They’re different. Once we arrived at Arkansas Children’s Northwest, the whole story changed.” Because of your support, Xavier and his parents received kid-savvy, family-centered care that only a children’s hospital can provide. “Everyone was so kind and friendly, even at two o’clock in the morning. We were at our worst, but the Emergency Department staff at Arkansas Children’s Northwest were at their best,” says Kay.
Your support of Arkansas Children’s Northwest makes emergency care close to home possible for the more than 200,000 children living in Northwest Arkansas—thank you!
GIVING.ARCHILDRENS.ORG • CHAMPIONS • M AY/J U N E 2019
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Your Support is
Saving
LLIVES
Because of you, the Arkansas Children’s Injury Prevention Center makes summertime activities safer for children in Arkansas
BY ASHLEY LEOPOULOS
S
ummertime is statistically one of the most dangerous seasons for children and teens. Unintentional injury is one of the leading causes of death in children 19 and younger.* Thanks to generous donors like you, the Arkansas Children’s Injury Prevention Center (IPC) works closely with community partners around the state to reduce injury, death and disability in Arkansas through service, education, innovative research and advocacy. The IPC was established in 2007 as a program of the Naturals Wonders Partnership Council, a statewide group made up of 20 organizations who work together to advocate for and positively impact child health. In the first 10 years of the IPC, outcomes showed a 32% decrease
in unintentional injury to children and teens in Arkansas. For the past 18 years, Hope Mullins, program manager for the IPC, has taught safety to thousands of families around the state. She understands first-hand the importance of safety. Her oldest daughter Faith was wearing her seatbelt the day she was hit head-on by a distracted driver in 2011. The simple act of buckling her seatbelt saved Faith’s life. “My daughter has heard me talk about the importance of wearing her seatbelt her entire life,” says Hope. “I’m convinced her hearing the message over and over again is what saved her. I never thought my job would save my child’s life.” Eight years later, Hope and her daughter travel the state together to promote motor vehicle safety.
On average, 250 children and teens ages 1–19 die each year in Arkansas, and unintentional injury is the leading cause.* *Statistic provided by Centers for Disease Control
Along with motor vehicle education, the IPC also hosts safety baby showers in Little Rock, HelenaWest Helena, Lake Village and Arkadelphia. These events educate new parents about providing a safe sleep environment, installing a car seat and keeping their child safe while at home. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the Arkansas Department of Health and the IPC partner to provide training to first responders, who in turn train their
Your support saves lives through unintential-injury education Thank you for championing children in Arkansas and beyond. 8
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• CHAMPIONS • BETTER TODAY. HEALTHIER TOMORROW.
“Not Even a Minute”
communities on safe sleep, home safety and car seat installations. In 2009, in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Health and the Arkansas State Police, Arkansas Children’s advocated for the graduated driver’s license for teens in Arkansas. The new law provides a safe environment for young drivers by limiting the number of passengers in the car, restricting nighttime driving and eliminating the use of digital devices while driving. Since the law took effect, the number of crashes involving teens in Arkansas has decreased by 56 percent. “Research shows that injury prevention works,” says Beverly Miller, program administrator for the IPC. “Thanks to our partners and donors statewide, we are working together to make Arkansas a healthier place to be a child.”
and prevention.
International award-winning children’s book illustrates importance of hot-car child safety In the United States, between 1998 and 2017, nearly 750 children died from heatstroke while being left alone in hot cars. In an effort to educate parents and caregivers about preventing hot-car deaths in children, the Arkansas Children’s Injury Prevention Center created, designed and published an awardwinning book called Not Even a Minute. The 16-page book shares the story of a family getting ready for the day and all the ways they remind themselves to never leave the baby alone in a car, not even a minute. The book was recognized as a global model for unintentionalinjury prevention education, receiving a silver award from the International Safety Media Awards at the Safety 2018 World Conference in Bangkok. The books were distributed to six Arkansas daycares as part of a pilot project. Each family in those daycares received a book to take home and read with their children, as well as a toolkit that included a window cling and prevention tips. Nearly 1,000 families received the materials. “This project underscores the difference we can make by opening the dialogue about hot-car deaths,” says Mary Aitken, MD, director of the Arkansas Children’s Injury Prevention Center and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine. “We are thrilled that organizations from other nations are seeing how they can apply this program to save even more lives.”
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WHY WE GIVE
Safety & Philathropy the Lennox Industries Way Stuttgart manufacturing plant provides a better today and a healthier, safer tomorrow for kids in eastern Arkansas BY BECKY MCCAULEY
S
afety and philanthropy are part of the core philosophy of Lennox Industries International. Lennox manufactures residential and commercial air conditioning units in facilities throughout the United States and around the world. At the Lennox manufacturing plant located in the Arkansas Delta town of Stuttgart, these values are very much in evidence. The Stuttgart plant opened in 1974 with a little over 100 employees. Throughout the past 45 years, the plant has expanded three times, now providing jobs for more than 1,500 people in a 750,000 square-foot facility. Throughout the plant, signage clearly displays the company’s bias for employee safety and accident prevention. “It’s part of our culture to keep people safe for their families,” says Plant Controller Tim Melson. “We want everyone who works for us and everyone in the community to be able to go home the same way they left. If anything does happen, we want to be sure people can recover from it.” 10
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In addition to being one of the largest employers in the Stuttgart area, Lennox supports this tight-knit community in a variety of ways. The organization purchases equipment and uniforms for children’s sports teams and equipment and training for the Stuttgart Police Department. Additionally, the Lennox Youth Theater Workshop allows children grades four through 12 to participate in professional theater performances. Lennox has also been a generous supporter of Arkansas Children’s for more than 20 years. “A lot of kids from this area visit Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and many times their families can’t afford to pay,” says Melson, who has been with the Stuttgart plant for more than three decades. “These are expenses ACH has to absorb.” In 2014, Lennox partnered with the Arkansas Children’s Injury Prevention Center (IPC), taking their passion for safety beyond the walls of the plant. Their generous gift to the IPC championed infant car seat safety, teaching new parents how to properly
• CHAMPIONS • BETTER TODAY. HEALTHIER TOMORROW.
install car seats and providing car seats to families in need. In years following, Lennox began supporting the life-saving work happening through the ACH Emergency Department Outreach Program and the Simulation Education Center, beginning with a three-hour pediatric course that educated 200 first responders on how to properly care for emergencies when the patient is a child. Most recently, their support is
Left: Lennox health specialists Lisa Keffer and Teresa Abrams with Andrew Klindera, senior manager, environmental health and safety. Right: Lennox Stuttgart plant employees, including Plant Controller Tim Melson, kneeling left and General Plant Manager Clifton Morris, far right.
Members of the Stuttgart Fire Department learn to use tourniquets to treat bleeding emergencies during a Stop the Bleed training course.
helping teach the basic techniques of wound care and bleeding control using tourniquets to first responders, teachers and others through a program called Stop the Bleed. Melson says, “Lennox wants to give back and show appreciation
for what Arkansas Children’s does for children in our state and the programs they can bring to the area to educate and provide help to our community.” Lennox has sponsored Stop the Bleed trainings for approximately 25 people at the Lennox plant, and for 125 teachers, first responders and members of the public at schools in Stuttgart, DeWitt, Clarendon and Carlisle, with additional trainings planned in August for England and Hazen schools. These schools are now also equipped with Stop the Bleed kits, which contain essential equipment in dealing with bleeding emergencies. “Arkansas Children’s conducted Stop the Bleed training for our first responders last year,” says Lisa Keffer, health specialist at the Stuttgart Lennox plant. “They trained us on tourniquet use and how to pack a wound. This is something that isn’t taught during regular training, so we were excited to learn it.” Teresa Abrams, also a Lennox health specialist, adds, “I was a first
responder at the time, and I was very excited about the training.” According to ACH Emergency Department Outreach Coordinator Charles Wooley, because of Lennox’s support of Stop the Bleed, Arkansas County and surrounding counties are one of the state’s most wellsaturated areas with Stop the Bleed training and kits. Without the philanthropic support of community partners like Lennox Industries, programs like Stop the Bleed wouldn’t be possible. “It’s obvious Lennox cares deeply about their community,” says Wooley. “Over the last few years, Lennox has partnered with Arkansas Children’s to bring a high level of pediatric education to first responders, pre-hospital providers, school nurses and emergency department personnel in their area, along with essential tools to deliver life-saving interventions.” With the support of community partners like Lennox Industries, Arkansas Children’s is reaching more children in more ways where they live, learn and play.
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Your Gift Gives Kids a Healthier Tomorrow “You never think you’ll be one of those families who would need Arkansas Children’s. ACH went above and beyond for our family providing comfort and love. Nyla wasn’t just a patient or a number to them.” ~ Tammy Hendrix, Nyla’s mom
BE A CHAMPION FOR CHILDREN You can help children like Nyla have a healthier tomorrow. A gift of $25, $50, $100 or more to Arkansas Children’s makes a huge difference in the life of a child.
PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY!
To give a one-time gift or become a monthly Miracle Maker, use the enclosed envelope, visit giving.archildrens.org or call (800) 880-7491.