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Published on: 5/22/2009
Last Visited: 9/28/2009
Trauma Medical Director, Dr. Mike Barringer named "Safe Kids" Shining Star
Local News - CRMC
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Trauma Medical Director, Dr. Mike Barringer named "Safe Kids" Shining Star
May 22, 2009
Cleveland County's Safe Kids Coalition has received yet another statewide award.
Michael Barringer, MD, a Shelby surgeon and Trauma Medical Director of Cleveland Regional Medical Center, was named the state's Safe Kids Shining Star.
"I'm honored," Dr. Barringer said.
"It was a total surprise.
We have a great team."
In 2008, the county's coalition received the state Coalition of the Year Award and Judy Hawkins, RN, coordinator for Safe Kids Cleveland County, was named state Coordinator of the Year.
"Dr. Barringer is Cleveland County's strongest and most passionate advocate for excellence in injury prevention, pre-hospital and trauma care," Hawkins said.
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Dr. Barringer is the longest serving active board member on the Safe Kids of Cleveland County, and has long been an advocate for injury prevention.
He is a trauma surgeon at the hospital's Level III Trauma Center and has seen too many injuries involving children.
"As a trauma center, one of our main goals is to reduce the very things you have to take care of," he said.
"We made a commitment early on to focus mostly on children.
If kids are educated at an early age about risk taking and injury prevention then maybe they'll remember later, and it will get them through the teenage years."
CRMC began its efforts in 1995 with a school-based pilot safety program called KidTips.
"We went into the schools to teach kindergartners about fall prevention, fire safety, car safety, bus safety, things like that," Dr. Barringer said.
The program quickly grew to include each kindergarten and second grade student in the county and Cherryville.
He helped steer Cleveland Regional Medical Center Foundation's mission to focus on injury prevention initiatives.
"I am so thankful to the foundation for their support of this effort," Dr. Barringer said.
"A lot of people give time and effort, but still it takes money.
Because of the foundation, every kid who graduates from the KidsTips program gets a free bike helmet."
In other words, more than 20,000 children have been fitted with bike helmets since the program began.
Hawkins said Dr. Barringer led the way for the establishment of a Safe Kids Coalition in 2000.
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The fair is a great venue for reaching lots of children, Dr. Barringer said.