BURRILLVILLE – I know that I submitted this kids safety coloring cartoon early in January, but after the recent incident in West Warwick involving a child falling through thin ice on an open body of water, it’s obviously a topic that needs to be addressed during the first week of March.
A West Warwick police officer jumped into the frigid water in order to rescue the young boy from drowning, just before the West Warwick Fire and Rescue Department arrived on the scene. Fortunately, both the young boy and the brave police officer survived the dangerous ordeal. That is not always the case. Too many times, a victim falling through the thin ice on open bodies of water does not survive. Sometimes, the police officers, firefighters, first responders and even private citizens attempting to save someone from drowning in frigid waters also perish during that courageous act of bravery.
I have been creating child safety coloring cartoons for kids and families for more than 30 years. I have founded many kids, teens, young adults and family safety campaigns for two decades. I have received numerous awards, honors, citizen service medals, plaques, trophies and accolades from the federal and state government, municipalities, police and fire departments, community leaders, non-profits, children’s hospitals and child safety advocates since the late 1990s. I write feature articles about kids and family safety week after week, month after month and year after year, published in newspapers and magazines regionally and nationally, hoping to keep kids safer.
Keeping families safer also means keeping police officers, firefighters, first responders and the public safer by not having to risk their lives in order to save someone else’s lives. What I create, write and continue to put out into the public does more than just give kids a coloring format and a message conveyed to help keep them safer. It helps keep everyone around them safer at the same time. Reduce the danger, reduce the harm and prevent unintentional injuries and save lives. This includes police officers, firefighters, first responders and any individual that is forced to put themselves in harm’s way in order to save a life.
Please share and talk with your kids about open water thin ice safety this month, especially as warmer weather melts the ice. Stay safe on solid ground kids.
Jim Weicherding is a Burrillville resident, and the founder and creator of an award-winning traffic safety effort Seasons of Safety. Weicherding contributes kids’ coloring cartoons, which can be printed and used to help parents discuss safety issues with their children. He has a long list of police officers and firefighters in his family and has worked with law enforcement and firefighters in a creative public safety capacity for more than two decades.
