Being involved in a car accident is traumatizing for adults, let alone children. First responders know this, and quickly act to help calm kids in such distressing situations and bring along something to help – teddy bears.
In the following video, Dutch police arrive at the scene of an accident that had two young children in one of the cars. The first thing they pull out from the back of their patrol vehicle are a pair of “trauma teddy bears”.
The officers approach the scene where a young adult says that the children are a bit shaken up. The one officer immediately gives the children the bears and asks them to come and sit in the police vehicle where it’s warm and away from the smashed car.
Trauma teddies are used by police departments all over the world to help children involved in traumatic situations, not just car accidents and are shown to help comfort them.
One person who watched the video commented, “I never realized how big a difference these make until I saw it in person. I witnessed an accident a few years ago and a child that was involved was really, really shaken. The cop that was first on scene did a quick check then grabbed a stuffed animal from the trunk and gave it to the boy and sat him down to relax while the officer talked to the parents. The boy talked to the bear and it brought him back within just seconds of being sat down.”
Many police departments are supplied the bears by charity organizations.
Share this video with your friends and support your local law enforcement if they have similar programs.
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