Central Oregon health care providers and public health departments are working together to raise awareness of safe sleep practices in response to troubling data that suggest the number of infants dying while sleeping is on the rise.

Between 2012 and 2017, 14 Deschutes County children died by suffocation or strangulation while sleeping, according to statistics provided by the state of Oregon. Five of those deaths occurred in 2016 alone, compared to one death in 2012.

The Deschutes County Child Fatality Review—a team of multidisciplinary community agencies that convene twice a year to identify trends and possible interventions—was motivated by the concerning rise in sleep-related infant deaths to create awareness of the problem.

Spearheaded by KIDS Center and St. Charles Health System, a collaborative effort has begun to more proactively share information about safe sleep practices on social media channels and in clinics through the end of June. Summit Medical Group Oregon, Central Oregon Pediatric Associates (COPA), Mosaic Medical and public health departments in Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties are also participating.

Dr. Nancy Heavilin, a pediatrician and KIDS Center’s medical director, said the number of infant deaths is a sobering reminder of the importance of safe sleep practices.
“In reviewing the data, it became clear our community needs to talk more about how to safely prepare a baby for sleep,” she said. “With proper education, fatal circumstances can be prevented.”

The leading cause of death for infants 1 month to 1 year old is Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID), which includes sleep-related deaths and SIDS, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Logan Clausen, chief medical officer at COPA, said more than 95 percent of SIDS cases are associated with one or more risk factors. The most common risk factors for babies are sleeping on a soft surface, sleeping on their stomach and exposure to parental smoking. Premature babies and low birth weight babies are also at higher risk, as are those who sleep in the same bed as their parents.

“The safest way for babies to sleep is on their back on a firm mattress without any crib bumpers, stuffed animals, thick blankets or pillows in the sleeping area,” Clausen said. “Exposure to any second-hand smoke should also be limited.”
The best way to prevent SUID is to:

1. Put babies to sleep on their back. When they’re too young to turn themselves over, this is the safest way to sleep.
2. Put them to sleep in the same room as their caretaker, but in their own space.
3. Use a firm, flat mattress.
4. Keep the sleep surface clutter-free (skip the bumpers, blankets, pillows and toys.)

Dr. Brooks Booker, a pediatrician at Summit Medical Group Oregon, added, “Be sure to schedule and go to all well-child visits. Your baby will receive important immunizations at these doctor visits. Recent evidence suggests that immunizations may have a protective effect against SIDS.”
For more information about how to help babies sleep safely, visit HealthyChildren.org/SafeSleep.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2019

BEND, Ore. – Pediatric patients have a new advocate and source of support in Jeri Young.

St. Charles Bend’s first-ever child life specialist, Young has already helped a boy with diabetes and needle anxiety do his own finger sticks and injections. She’s prepared a girl needing a tonsillectomy for the operating room and helped assuage her fear and anxiety. And she's helped another girl with needle phobia have an IV started and later, while in the playroom, worked with her to develop a plan for future painful procedures.

Young said her role is to help promote effective coping through play, self-expression activities and age-appropriate medical education. She explains to children what’s going to happen, practices with them deep breathing techniques and talks through the procedure as it’s performed.

“It’s so rewarding to see a situation that’s unfamiliar or can be scary to families and children, and then by the time you work with them and give them the confidence and teach them the skills, they can do it,” said Young, who brings to her position 37 years of experience working as a child life specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Colorado Springs, as well as Shriners Hospitals for Children and Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.

Funded by more than $140,000 raised by the St. Charles Foundation, the hospital’s child life specialist program was created to help young patients and their families adjust and cope with hospital or clinic settings, illness or injury and the treatments involved. Because children process information much differently from adults, they have distinct needs for managing the effects of stress and trauma.

Child life specialists like Young are trained professionals with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in the areas of child life, human development and family studies, child and adolescent development, counseling, special education or similar fields. They have expertise in helping children and their families overcome life’s most challenging events and the importance of their work is well documented.

Reasons to call a child life specialist include:

• Preparation, education and support for procedures or surgeries
• Medical play and therapeutic play needs
• Non-pharmacological pain/stress management techniques
• Difficulty taking oral medications
• Difficulty coping with hospitalization or procedures
• Medical care plan compliance
• New diagnosis or life-changing illness or injury
• Sibling preparation, education and support
• Parent education and support
• Death or impending death

“I think having a child life specialist is something a lot of us have had at children’s hospitals, but it’s an amazing resource you can have that makes the whole hospital more pediatric friendly,” said Dr. Suzanne Mendez, medical director of the pediatric hospitalist program at St. Charles Bend. “For me, it means the kids hopefully can recover faster and they can get through procedures without having to be quite as deeply sedated. And they’re easier for me to examine because they’re not so anxious.”

About St. Charles Health System
St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, Madras, Prineville, Redmond, Sisters and La Pine. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,200 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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