Austria

Safe Kids Austria/Grosse Schützen Kleine is a nonprofit child safety organization with offices in seven Austrian provinces. In 2001, Grosse Schützen Kleine became a member of Safe Kids Worldwide.

Established in 1983, Grosse Schützen Kleine often works with midwives, doctors and children’s nurses, parents, childcare workers and teachers to implement safety programs. Local network offices collaborate with the Red Cross, police departments, fire departments, local governments and other like-minded organizations to reach parents and caregivers with vital injury prevention information.

Approximately 1.3 million children in Austria have been involved with Grosse Schützen Kleine programs. Programs cover risk areas such as home safety and road traffic safety.

Highlights

Water Safety Day

One hundred and fifty children from an elementary school in Stainz, Austria did not go to school on June 15, instead, they spent their day participating in the Water Safety Day at the open air bath in Stainz. They gained hands-on experience while visiting various learning stations that shared important information on their own safety as well as the safety of their smaller sisters and brothers. Topics included safety in and around water, correct behavior around dogs, first aid and fire safety. Safety Clown Popolina was a major attraction for school children during the event.

The Water Safety Day was organized by GROSSE SCHÜTZEN KLEINE/Safe Kids Austria as part of the five-year Safe Children Community Project Deutschlandsberg and sponsored by the Raiffeisenbank Stainz who also sponsored yellow reflector bands.

First Safe Children Community to be designated in the district of Deutschlandsberg

Following the Indicators for Safe Children Communities, GROSSE SCHÜTZEN KLEINE/Safe Kids Austria initiated a three-year community safety program in the district of Deutschlandsberg in 2007. This district comprises 39 communities with 60,000 inhabitants,

The goal of the Safe Children Community Program is to build an infrastructure for child injury prevention, while developing safe-children policies and long-term, sustainable programs for both genders and all child age groups, environments, situations, and high-risk groups. Other goals are to be able to document frequency and causes of injuries, evaluate measures, and document participation in Safe Community networks.