COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A new campaign related to safe sleep is underway in Franklin County hospitals, and healthcare providers hope it saves lives.
Called “Dream Big With Safe Sleep,” the messaging and animations are now on every hospital bassinet, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) isolette, provider badge reel, and mousepad at work stations in maternity units and NICUs at every hospital in the county.
“Dream big. It’s important that we want to make sure every baby reaches that first birthday and we want to make sure that for all those nights that those babies have great dreams,” President and CEO of the Central Ohio Hospital Council (COHC) Jeff Klinger said.
Klingler said all of the 3,400 frontline caregivers in maternity units and NICUs will wear the badge with the campaign’s message. The council and all four area hospital systems worked on this effort together.
“This campaign is really directed at all those frontline caregivers, reminding them to take those four steps for every baby we see in our hospitals,” Klingler said.
The four steps for providers through “Dream Big With Safe Sleep” are asking families about a crib at their home, showing them the same safe sleep video, giving them a door hanger with the ABCs of safe sleep which are alone on their back and in the crib, and giving parents a sleep slack during colder months.
Erin Arroyo, a postpartum nurse at OhioHealth’s Dublin Methodist Hospital, said these can sometimes be uncomfortable conversations with families and this ensures providers across the county are following the same steps.
“I think that’s incredible,” she said. “Consistency is really key here. We don’t want the message to get skewed or get muddied, so the consistency and clear message is what’s really important because if everybody’s saying and everyone’s hearing the same message. I think we can make a much bigger impact that way.”
There are about 20 infant sleep-related deaths per year in Franklin County, according to COHC. The goal of “Dream Big With Safe Sleep” is to bring that number down.
“It’s critical we continue to give this message because it’s just one accident that can happen and I just hate for families to be affected by something that can be easily solved with the resources our community has for them,” Arroyo said.
