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Show ' f '- ' ' f-S ? A 4 i X g yi-S i -" 'Li - - , ! " -XT ' .? ::, hi ' : - . , ,"' . i ' t" '', A Students at West Bountiful Elementary are instructed by Dave Mickel, the founder of "Child Safe of Utah." The program offers an identification system for children who are lost or injured. Domino's Pizza and McDonalds of Centerville supplied the food for a pizza party for youngsters who signed for the program. 'Child Safe' program protects kids By JUDY JENSEN ; Editor : WEST BOUNTIFUL Parents Pa-rents of students at West Bountiful Elementary said they can rest easier knowing that their children are protected by Child Safe of Utah. PTA safety commissioner Di-anne Di-anne Meikle spearheaded a recent drive to get students registered with the nationwide child identifi- t i i l n i - - - cation program. "I've even registered reg-istered my husband," said Mrs. Meikle. She explained that Mr. Meikle is a long-haul truck driver. "If he was in an accident away from home, the label on his clothes would let the police know who he is," she said. The highly effective emergency identification service for lost, missing mis-sing or injured children has been introduced in Utah by Bountiful resident re-sident David R. Mickel. Mr. Mick el said when he first learned of the program, that is now being used in 34 states, "I thought it would be a great way to protect my six children. chil-dren. The one thing that all children chil-dren have in common is that they get dressed before they leave home in the morning. A simple iron-on label was the ideal solution," he said. The Child Safe Program consists of 50 labels which can be ironed onto on-to a child's clothing. Each label supplies the child's unique identification identifi-cation number as well as a national toll-free hotline number. Parents can authorize pertinent medical information in-formation to be released to police officers or other emergency personnel per-sonnel when the parents cannot be located. The names and telephone numbers of three other adults may also be supplied. The label reads in part: "I'm a Child Safe Kid. In case O CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 'Child Safe' program implemented training for businesses. West Bountiful Elementary students stu-dents will be given a second chance to register in the spring. Mr. Meikle said they want to be sure that all of the children are protected. For further information call David Mickle at 295-9200. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 of emergency please call (telephone (tele-phone number, child's I.D. no.)" Mr. Mickel said there have been many incidences where children have been injured or lost where Child Safe would have been invaluable. invalu-able. He cited the recent Orem accident where an 1 1 -year-old boy was struck by a car and hospitalized hospital-ized in intensive care for five hours before his parents, who had been searching for him, saw a report of the accident on the television news. He said there was also a five-year-old girl who got off the school bus at the wrong stop and wandered wan-dered aimlessly for several hours before a "kind woman" took her in and called Ihe authorities. "I am excited about the response re-sponse I've gotten from schools and police," said Mr. Mickel. The Utah Chiefs of Police Association recently issued a letter stating their full support of the program. The letter, signed by Wayne D. Shepherd, president of the organization, organi-zation, reads: "The Utah Chiefs of Police Association has reviewed the Child Safe Program. We wholeheartedly support a program that assists in the identification of lost or serious ly injured children. "We as chiefs of police have experienced, ex-perienced, many times over, the c helpless feeling that comes when a t child cannot be identified; particu- s larly in a serious or fatal accident. t "One of the best aspects of the f program is the triangle of success j created by the community, business busi-ness and law enforcement working together to make our state a safer place to live." In addition to the support of the police, the program has received the approval of Davis County School Superintendent Dr. Richard E. Kendell, the Association Associa-tion of Catholic School Principals' Association and KinderCare. Mr. Mickel feels the reason the program is so widely accepted is due to its simplicity, confidentiality confidential-ity and reasonable cost. The yearly charge for the entire program, including in-cluding the 50 labels is only $5 per child. He said the response to the program has been overwhelming. What began as a part-time crusade for Mr. Mickle has become a full-time full-time project. "I really need to get back to my job as business consultant," consul-tant," said Mr. Mickel. Mr. Mickel received his master's degree in family life education from BYU and works in motivational stress management and leadership |