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THE 911 BEAR

Comfort for Children in Crisis

IMAGINE THIS

It’s very dark outside. Flashing lights suddenly appear off in the distance, and in a blink they are all around you, very close. A siren screams, voices shout, a police radio crackles. You can’t make out what any of the voices are saying. You search for a familiar face, but in the confusion there isn’t one—just strangers, rushing by you, most of them in uniform. Imagine how frightened and alone you feel in the midst of this emergency scene.

Now, imagine that you are 7 years old.

THE 911 BEAR MISSION

To provide the professionals who are the first to arrive at scenes of emergency with teddy bears to comfort, console, and calm any young children present.

BEARS IN ACTION

All emergency response personnel will be trained how to best use the teddy bears in potentially traumatic situations. Some of those would include:

• Traffic stops and accidents. Accompanied by blaring sirens and flashing lights, police officers can seem very menacing. We hope to stock each patrol car with the 911 Bear, to help ease the tension at traffic accidents.
• Domestic violence calls. Unfortunately, these often involve children—sometimes roused out of bed, always deeply disturbed by the turbulence they’ve been exposed to. Officers can use the 911 Bear to help children focus on something comforting.
• Ambulance calls. An injured or anxious child being tended to by paramedics might certainly be calmed by a 911 Bear.
• Child abuse or neglect reports. These often bring police to homes where children have experienced trauma and face displacement. The 911 Bear can provide consolation to a child in the midst of turmoil.

THE BEAR FACTS

It’s no secret that police and fire emergencies can be psychologically traumatic to people of all ages—but they can be especially disturbing for children.

With that in mind, Hanson resident Betty Dahlberg began her town’s Bears on Board program eight years ago.
Now “emergency personnel in Hanson consider stuffed animals as essential to their jobs as radios, water hoses and firearms.” (The Patriot Ledger)

In fact, communities nationwide have started programs to provide their emergency personnel with teddy bears as a new tool. We hope to establish The 911 Bear program with the assistance of Milton residents, business owners, and civic leaders.

As one Milton official commented: “My best professional hunch is The 911 Bear can change the atmosphere of domestic violence situations and other emergency events that involve children.

“Wouldn’t it be great for police officers to pull out a bear instead of entering a home with just the usual equipment: gun and handcuffs?”

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Each year emergency personnel in Milton respond to an estimated 550 fire, police, and ambulance calls in which a child is involved. The goal of The 911 Bear program is to provide a teddy bear for each and every one of those situations.

To date, The Pine Tree Brook Neighborhood Association has secured a generous donation of 700 bears. An additional 50 bears have been purchased outright by The PTBNA.

We need your help to keep The 911 Bear program moving forward. We’re currently looking for volunteers to help wrap the bears in baggies so they can be safely stowed in emergency vehicles until they are needed.

Please contact Dick Russell about volunteering: (617) 696-3751, or email: dickrussell@pinetreebrook.com

We also need financial support to keep The 911 Bear program ongoing.
All money received will be applied exclusively to the cost of teddy bears or training for emergency personnel.

The 911 Bear program has been initiated by the Pine Tree Brook Neighborhood Association, lead by Dick Russell.

Picture shown is of the 911 Bear as you enter the Milton Town Hall.

Donations may be sent to:
The 911 Bear
c/o Dick Russell
11 Gibbons St.
Milton, MA 02186

Checks may be made out to The PTBNA.

The following organizations have also lent valued support:

• Milton Police Department
• Milton Kiwanis Club
• Bell Atlantic Telephone Pioneers of America

A Pine Tree Brook Neighborhood Association project inspired by the memory of Milton Outreach Officer Sergeant Jack Moriarty.