Helping children in a medical emergency

To help the police aid young people in medical distress, the Kiwanis Club of the Five Towns donated three pediatric trauma kits to the Nassau County Police Department’s 4th Precinct in Hewlett. The kits, each valued at $1,000, are designed for children under 18 and include a resuscitator, oxygen mask, stethoscope and a teddy bear. 

Kiwanis members presented the kits to police at the precinct on Broadway with Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder in attendance on July 25. “Each year, roughly 39,000 children are seriously injured in Nassau County,” Ryder said. “Our police medics are the best in the country at their jobs. Giving them the best equipment going forward is exactly what they need.”

Since the trauma kits were created, Five Towns Kiwanis have donated roughly 250 kits, officials said. The New York District of Kiwanis International agreed to form an alliance with the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset to create the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Center in 1991.

“We’re simply here today to thank the Five Towns Kiwanis for donating these pediatric trauma kits,” Curran said. “From what I hear, the Five Towns Kiwanis are the biggest donors of these kits of any Kiwanis in the state, that’s a big deal.”

Kiwanis member and Rockville Centre resident Jeff Greenfield shared a personal story detailing why he thinks pediatric trauma kits are needed. “Today is the 20th anniversary of my daughter getting struck by a distracted driver in a school zone,” Greenfield said. “I didn’t realize the need for a kit like this until I was in that circumstance.” 

Greenfield, who also serves on the Nassau County Planning Commission, noted that his daughter made a full recovery and is a litigation attorney. “There was nothing worse than having the police pick me up and tell me my daughter is in a coma,” he said. “That is why these kits are important to me on a personal note and its important for every family in the county to know that we have this equipment available.”

Hewlett Harbor resident and Kiwanis member Tom Cohen said the idea to donate the kits was sparked by a conversation with 4th Precinct Commander Joseph Barbieri. “I started chatting with Joseph Barbieri at our annual police appreciation night dinner in March about the kits,” Cohen said. “I asked him if the precinct already had the kits, and he said no. Right then I knew it was another great opportunity for us to help the community.”

Ryder said adding kits is a possibility. “We will evaluate these kits going forward to see if we will expand the program,” he said. “We’ve already had preliminary conversations with the Kiwanis to see how it can be expanded.” 

While no one hopes the trauma kits have to be used, Cohen said Kiwanis aims to continue their contributions. “This is the first of many donations we hope will be made,” he said. “We hope these kits will never have to be used, but our goal is for every professional to have a kit available to them.”