As part of the Westmoreland County Coroner’s partnership with the Cribs for Kids National Safety Initiative, 15 cribs will be purchased for families thanks to a donation from a regional business.
Uniontown-based Black Diamond Equipment Rental donated $1,000 which will be used to buy cribs for Westmoreland families in need.
Nonprofit Cribs for Kids provides preventative programming, safe sleep education and safe infant products to families, healthcare professionals and community groups and has distributed more than 900,000 no-cost cribs over the years.
Qualifying families receive safe, portable cribs. To find out more about the qualification guidelines, see CribsForKids.org.
“It’s organizations like Black Diamond Equipment Rental that are making this program a success,” county Coroner Tim Carson said. “So far we’ve given away 37, and we’re always taking applications through the coroner’s county website. I’m also working on getting some more funding from local businesses so we can keep this going.”
About 3,400 infants die each year of sudden, unexpected causes, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Of those, a little over 900, roughly 27%, are due to accidental suffocation or strangulation in bed.
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to place infants on their backs to sleep. The bed should have a firm mattress and fitted sheet and should be free of loose objects like blankets, pillows, stuffed toys, bumpers or other soft items.
Apply for the program at co. westmoreland.pa.us/1279/Coroner.
