HUMMER puts Courageous Kids in the driver's seat

Hospitals are awful places to be. After all, if you're a patient, chances are that you're not there for anything fun, and the sterile environment does nothing to make the experience any more pleasant. It's worse for kids, even if they're in pediatric wards geared more to their needs. After all, no matter what the surroundings, the prospect of facing surgery or other medical treatments can make patients experience feelings of anxiety and dread. For children, this can be downright scary.
Many hospitals have embraced diversion therapy as a way of counteracting these feelings of anxiety in children who are facing serious surgery. For example, it's not at all uncommon to read about volunteers who bring their pets in to visit with patients. HUMMER is getting in on the act, blending a little bit of advertising with a healthy dose of altruism through a program the truck-builder calls Courageous Kids. It's quite simple: dealers are empowered to donate battery-powered kid-sized HUMMERs to local hospitals, where staff can then use the toys to help make the experience far less intimidating to their youngest patients. Instead of being wheeled to a treatment room or surgery on a gurney, the children can climb into a toy HUMMER and drive themselves. Just like that, a potentially negative experience is transformed into something the young patient can actually look forward to, making it far less stressful for child and parents alike.
Full details on the program are contained in GM's press release pasted after the jump.
[Source: HUMMER]
**PRESS RELEASE**
HUMMER's "Courageous Kids" program delivers child-sized HUMMERs to hospitals nationwide
DETROIT – Hospitals across the United States will soon be adding child-sized, HUMMER battery-operated vehicles to their pediatric units. The vehicles are being donated by HUMMER dealerships under a program called "Courageous Kids." The HUMMERs are used by young patients who may "drive" themselves into surgery or for other medical procedures. The goal of Courageous Kids is to help reduce the anxiety that frightened children often experience when undergoing medical treatment.
"We believe this mode of transportation definitely beats a gurney ride and can help take young patients' minds off their fears," said Martin Walsh, HUMMER general manager. To date, hospitals in Michigan, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Washington, and Texas have begun replacing gurney rides with self-driven HUMMER rides in style.
Last year, the General Motors plant in Shreveport, La., where the HUMMER H3 is built, came up with the idea and made the first donation of two ride-on HUMMERs to the local Sutton Children's Hospital. It was the suggestion of GM Shreveport employee David Burroughs, an environmental engineer. Burroughs was familiar with diversion therapy, a strategy often used at children's hospitals. With diversion therapy medical professionals and volunteers often bring dogs and other pets to visit patients, as the animals having a known therapeutic effect. Additionally, some hospitals use rides in wagons and golf carts to help distract children from worries about their medical procedures. "So I thought why not do the same thing with HUMMERs?" explains Burroughs.
The results have been overwhelmingly positive. According to the Sutton hospital's medical staff, even the most anxious children forgot about their fear of surgery thanks to the excitement of driving a HUMMER to their procedure. "Local surgeons have told us that some kids even require less anesthesia when they ride into surgery in the HUMMERs," said Burroughs. "It's a rather remarkable phenomenon."
Some medical workers and parents have found a ride in the HUMMER toy is a great motivator during recovery as well. "I worked with one patient who used to take thirty minutes to swallow his medications," said Amanda Hays, Child Life manager at the Louisiana State University Health Services facility. "Now he takes them in about five minutes so that he can ride!"
Walsh says the results of a few local donations convinced HUMMER to make the program available to dealerships around the U.S. "Once we heard about these favorable results we knew we needed to quickly expand the program so children's hospitals all around the country could use our toys to put smiles on the faces of their young patients and help lessen the stress and anxiety of their parents, too," noted Walsh. He expects dealerships around the U.S. will soon be making the mini-HUMMER donations to their local hospitals.
HUMMER has a history of charitable giving, including the following:
- In 2005 HUMMER and the GM Foundation announced they would provide the American Red Cross with 72 HUMMER vehicles and $600,000 in cash over six years. The first vehicles were deployed in the Gulf States in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Red Cross HUMMERs were also instrumental in responding to floods in Orange County, NY and wildfires in San Bernardino County, CA last year.
- HUMMER provided the state of Louisiana with 12 H3's, at their request, to aid local and state agency disaster response organizations in 2005 and 2006.
- HUMMER is the only vehicle manufacturer to support the Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR) -- a non-profit organization committed to maintaining the world-famous Rubicon Trail in California. HUMMER has donated funds, materials and staff man-hours to the group's trail restoration projects.
- HUMMER is a multi-year sponsor of the After-School All-Stars. Founded by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1992, After-School All-Stars strives to keep kids safe and to help them achieve in school and in life. ASAS provides high quality, comprehensive after-school programs that emphasize pro-social activities, academic excellence, and enrichment opportunities. Nationwide, more than 60,000 high-risk youth benefit from these programs in 13 U.S. cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose and South Florida.
- Since 2003, HUMMER has provided a $100,000 annual endowment to Tread Lightly!, as part of the HUMMER Helps program. The annual endowment is administered as a grant-giving initiative to select outdoor enthusiast clubs who are Tread Lightly! members to sustain the lands where outdoor enthusiasts enjoy off-highway activities.












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Denise Jones 2:44PM (2/12/2008)
This has nothing to do with the environment. to even bring it up is ridiculous. If you want to know why, check out this website that talks about hybrids.
http://blog.pricewheels.com/2008/01/04/the-truth-about-hybrids/
I can tell you from experience how traumatizing having surgery is to a child. I work in a pediatric surgery. Diversion therapy is so effective and it is better for the kids to have less anethesia.
If anyone thinks this will affect how these kids will buy a car in the future - one of the kids who rode in a battery powered Hummer thought it was a Jeep. Guess what his parents owned...
Reply
Viv 4:57PM (4/17/2007)
Kudos to Hummer on a good job.
Reply
Brad 5:15PM (4/17/2007)
Good on them!
Reply
Earsell Collier Jr 5:49PM (4/17/2007)
This is super cool! Nice going GM/Hummer
Reply
Snix 11:36PM (4/17/2007)
It warms my heart to hear stories like these. We need more of this in the world today.
Reply
HotRodzNKustoms 7:31PM (4/17/2007)
Totally awesome. Who says a large corporation can't have a big heart?
Reply
Andy 7:50PM (4/17/2007)
Nothin' better than sick kids to get your PR pic in the media. Good work, Hummer!
Reply
Jaymez 11:06PM (4/17/2007)
Would you have prefered it were a Barbie/HotWheels Lamborghini? A Jeep? Sheeit. If it makes the kids feel better, who gives a shit?
So a little kid may fall in love with a HUMMER. Big deal. If the parents end up buying one it won't be because the kid likes it or because Junior drove one at the hosptial. If it is, the parent was already considering buying one anyway.
Reply
Justin 7:57AM (4/18/2007)
I'd say we shouldnt teach our kids early to want Hummers, but in these kids' case....
ok that was in bad taste. But so is Hummer getting PR out of this. Ugh
Reply
roadside observer 9:49AM (4/18/2007)
(waiting for some greenine-weenie to chime in on how exposing kids to a Hummer toy car is the wrong message to send to kids and how doing so is bad for the environment ...)
Reply
Mr. Red 10:06AM (4/18/2007)
Can finally say gm did something decent, congrats on some humanity.
http://www.burnedbytheman.com
Reply
IPSECTL 11:25AM (4/18/2007)
Hey Mr.Narcasistic Pig,
Exposing kids to a Hummer toy car is the wrong message to send to kids and how doing so is bad for the environment.
This is very similiar to the Hummer Happy Meal toys from 2006. GM is out to sell every fool and their brother a gas guzzler, and for what? For the kids? Almost made you bluff there; we all know this is for the pocket.
Reply
mike 1:24AM (4/23/2007)
are you serious?????? what the hell man. can gm do anything without someone lashing out against them??? this is a good idea. if it helps de-stress kids, who cares. do u really think 20 years from now, one of them is gonna say "gee, i drove a hummer to chemo, hmmm, maybe ill buy one" come on now. anything gm does gets publicity- so to bash them becuase of the publicity involved is asinine. and you know how many hot wheels cars have been sold in happy meals over the years??? get real.
and have u seen the charities hummer has been in? wheres toyota? (and remember this is just hummer)
Reply