Santa Rosa County is the first county in the nation to earn the “Safe Communities America” designation through the National Safety Council.
The County Commission received the designation at its meeting Thursday.
According to the National Safety Council, communities with a safe community designation experience a decrease in injuries, an average of 10 percent less for both intentional and unintentional injuries.
Safe Communities America is an approach to community injury reduction structured around a broad coalition of partners, including businesses, civic organizations, local governments, nonprofits and residents.
Becoming a safe community is a collaborative and inclusive process that takes nine to 12 months to complete and includes an application and site visit.
Communities must meet the following four areas of competency: sustained collaboration; understanding of their community data; programs that address the intentional and unintentional injury patterns in their community; and demonstrate an understanding of evaluation.
Assessors from the National Safety Council visited Santa Rosa County on Dec. 11, 2012. The team toured several sites, including the Sheriff’s Office,
Bennett Russell Elementary, the United Way, Gulf Breeze City Hall and Lifeguard Ambulance. They also met with county and city leaders.
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Santa Rosa County earns its first of this national designation
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