Piedmont Columbus Regional has named Dr. Rebecca Reamy and the organization’s Safe Sleep committee theFirst Friday Heroes for the month of April.

Unintentional suffocation is the leading cause of infant injury death in the United States. Accidental suffocation and strangulation in unsafe sleeping environments are responsible for 82 percent of these deaths, all of which are preventable. After seeing an alarming trend of accidental suffocation and strangulation in infants sleeping unsafe locally, Piedmont Columbus Regional created the Safe Sleep committee in spring 2019.

This committee involves a multidisciplinary group of clinicians and laypeople— including physicians, nurses, Communications team members, child care resources, Public Health, UGA-Parents as Teachers, as well as Safe Kids Columbus representatives. This group has worked together to increase education and awareness in the community at large, our hospital staff, and parents of infants who are born here or treated in The Children’s Hospital and Pediatric Emergency Department.

Safe sleep for babies is very important and you may be lying your baby down to sleep incorrectly, which could be fatal.

A majority of baby deaths are preventable, it is a matter of knowing the ABCs of safe sleep:

• A: Alone (babies need their own sleep space)

• B: Back (babies sleep safest on their backs- back is best)

• C: Crib (babies need a firm mattress with a tight-fitting bottom sheet with nothing else in the crib)

A ceremony with the committee and hospital leadership will be held at a later date to commend them for their response. Their story is also featured throughout the hospital on commemorative posters and Piedmont Columbus Regional’s social media pages.

Piedmont Columbus Regional created the First Friday Hero program in mid-2016 to recognize first responders each month who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Their line of work is often a thankless job and we want to make the community aware of our local heroes and all they do to make Columbus a better and safer place.