Hospital Donates Helmets for Local Kids

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., September 23, 2016 On Sept. 20, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center donated 200 helmets to the Port Orange Police Department for children to wear when skateboarding or bicycling.

Officer Evan Doyle, City of Port Orange Police Department community relations and public information officer, will work alongside the POPD traffic unit over the coming weeks to outfit children who are in need of a helmet while also continuing education efforts regarding the importance of bicycle safety.

Within the first two weeks of the 2016 school year, there have been three accidents involving Creekside Middle School student pedestrians at the intersection of Waters Edge Boulevard and Airport Road in Port Orange.

We want to help keep the kids in our community safe, and studies have shown how important it is to wear a properly fitted helmet every time you ride a bicycle or go skateboarding, said Shawn Bishop, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center emergency department director. Its estimated that helmets can reduce the odds of head injury by 50 percent, as well as the odds of head, face, or neck injury by 33 percent. Unfortunately, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reports that less than half of all Americans who ride bicycles wear helmets. We hope these helmets will help our local kids get to school and back home safely.

About Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center

Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center is a member of Adventist Health System, a faith-based health care organization with 46 hospital campuses and nearly 8,200 licensed beds in 10 states. Our locations include Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach and Florida Hospital Oceanside in Ormond Beach, as well as outpatient facilities in Port Orange, Daytona Beach Shores and New Smyrna Beach. With 293-beds, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center is one of the six Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties that composes the Florida Hospital East Florida Region. As the largest hospital system in the area, the Florida Hospital East Florida Region has 923 beds and more than 6,000 employees. With a mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ, the Florida Hospital East Florida Region collectively contributed nearly $120 million in benefits in 2015 to the underprivileged, the community's overall health and wellness and spiritual needs, and capital improvements.