Media Availability: Educate the Public on Co-sleeping and Dangers of Prescription and Illicit Drugs Surrounding Children
Who: Chief Gerald Smith brings attention to preventing child deaths in Richmond in collaboration with VCU Medical Center in response to a series of child deaths related to co-sleeping and ingestion of illegal drugs.
- Richmond Police Chief Gerald M. Smith
- Youth and Family Crimes Sergeant
- Dr. Patrick McLaughlin, VCU Medical Center, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
What: VCU Medical expert, RPD Youth and Family Crimes Unit, and Chief of Police discuss the recent rise in sudden unexplained child deaths in our community.
Co-sleeping is defined and demystified with safety recommendations offered as well as increasing awareness around for parents to maintain infant and child safety in our community.
When: 1
p.m., Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Comments followed by Q &A
Where: Park365 (outdoors on the playground)
3600 Saunders Avenue
Richmond, VA 23227
Why: Raise public awareness around the issue
of sudden death in children and preventable methods available to parents
including an understanding of co-sleeping, and the dangers of prescription and
illegal drug use in families.
Stats:
- Between 1999 and 2016, the use of prescription and illicit opioids caused the deaths of approximately 9,000 American children. (Analysis CDC Mortality data, JAMA Network Open)
- 3,500 sleep-related deaths among U.S. babies each year, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), accidental suffocation, and deaths from unknown causes (CDC.gov)
- According to the latest data from CDC, 28 states, including Virginia had more than a 30 percent increase in overdose deaths in 2020 compared to 2019, including 10 that increased by more than 40 percent. (CDC Vital Statistics Rapid Release)
