Partners & Collaborators
World Health Organization - Safety Community Designation
Recently, through the efforts of a collaboration of organizations, the World Health Organization (WHO) named the Omaha Metroplex and lead collaborator, the National Safety Council, Greater Omaha Chapter, a WHO "Safe Community". At the time of the recognition, Greater Omaha was only the fourth American community to receive this prestigious recognition.
This prestigious designation launches eastern Nebraska and western Iowa - not just Omaha - into the ranks of such diverse locales as Rotterdam, Netherlands; Melbourne, Australia; Suwon, Korea; Calgary, Canada; and Bergan, Norway as well as the handful of American cities who have previously received the designation: Dallas, TX, Anchorage, AK, and Springfield MO.
Being designated a "Safe Community" doesn't mean that everyone here is perfectly safe, or that the work of the community is done. Rather, it is recognition of the community's efforts to work towards an overall climate that encourages, respects, and rewards safety, at work, at play, at home, and all points in between.
Working together, the Greater Omaha Community will continue this collaboration for a "Safe Community." As a member of this global initiative, we will participate in conferences, and share our findings, our research, and our expertise. Our five county area will benefit as we learn from those with similar missions in the United States and all across the world.
F1RST - Fall Intervention Reaching Seniors Together 
There is a silent killer in our community that very few people talk about and this killer preys on older adults. It is not someone lurking in the shadows waiting to attack. It is much more subtle, but no less deadly. Statistical evidence predicts that one third of adults over 65 will fall each year. In our area that is 24,000 to 28,000. Of those who fall, 20 – 30% suffer moderate to severe injuries that reduce mobility and independence and increase the risk of premature death. Debilitating injuries from falls account for up to 40% of all nursing home admissions. It doesn’t have to be!
“F1RST- Fall Intervention Reaching Seniors Together” is a community collaborative that is developing and presenting initiatives to reduce the trauma, injuries and deaths caused by falls in our older population. Five risk areas have been identified: Home Safety, Medication Management, Physical Activity and Mobility, Environmental Issues and Cross-cutting Issues. Volunteer task groups representing each of these risk areas are developing action steps and projects providing a myriad of solutions to reduce injury and fatality from falls in an effort to preserve quality of life for our older population.
A Leadership Committee of 4 partners, Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. University of Nebraska Omaha, United Way of the Midlands and National Safety Council, Greater Omaha Chapter with health directors of Douglas, Sarpy, Cass, Washington, Dodge counties in Nebraska and Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County in Iowa and task group chairs oversees the successful development and implementation of initiatives. The National Safety Council, Greater Omaha Chapter has accepted the responsibility as the lead organization. Members of the task groups from community agencies, businesses, educational institutions, health care providers, medical professionals, aging services professionals and specialists, community/public health professionals, and other stakeholders make up the community-wide Advisory Committee.
This Advisory Committee with the Leadership Committee guides the coalition to provide interventions specific to each of the risk factors outlined in the Falls Free National Action Plan. It also follows the objectives of Healthy People 2010 relating to fall prevention and the Nebraska Health and Human Services Best Practices for Unintentional Injuries relating to fall prevention.
Click It Don't Risk It 
Click It - Don't Risk It! is a campaign to increase safety belt usage in Nebraska to 85%, brought to you by the Nebraska Coalition to Save Lives Through Safety Belt Usage.
Since the inception of the Click It Campaign in February 2002, Nebraska has increased its safety belt usage from 69% to 78%.
The Nebraska Coalition to Increase Safety Belt Usage has grown to over 600 members and counting. This Coalition is made up of law enforcement officers, community health officials, educational faculty, business organizations and community safety advocates. Coalition members volunteer their time and efforts generously to increase safety belt usage. If you are not a Coalition member and want to help educate people within your community, join the Coalition now. Buckle up! Save Lives!
Partners for Child Safety
From 2005 to 2008 a partnership, with Children's Hospital, Kohl's Department Store and the National Safety Council, Greater Omaha Chapter, was formed to reduce injury and fatality of children birth to age 14. Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death and hospital discharges for children under 14 in the U.S. and in Nebraska. Annually an average of 40,000 children to age 14 is seriously injured. Most of these injuries were preventable.
Because of the tremendous investment by the partners; fathers, mothers, children, grandparents, caregivers, and families have learned about the multitude of big and small things that they can do in daily life to reduce the risk of injury to children. They learned through health fairs, special events, brochures, flyers, articles, news reports, talk shows, magazine articles, television and radio. There were hands-on demonstrations, activity oriented learning, practice makes perfect events, and classroom and parent education.
Help Prevent Injuries and Save Lives by Volunteering
Nationally recognized award winning Safety Council seeks volunteers to assist with community safety events. We would love you to join us in reaching those in our community. Tasks may include staffing registration and/or educational booths, demonstrating safe procedures, distributing materials, mailing promotional and educational materials and more. Please consider contributing your time for injury prevention. You help will prevent injuries and save lives.
Please click here for more details and to register.
