A Camden, NJ Hospital Places Visual Reminders Against Child Abuse
By Michelle Durham
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and officials at Cooper University Hospital in Camden are working to make sure the public knows what to look for.
Today, they planted a visual reminder -- blue pinwheels -- on the hospital's front lawn.
"Children respond to (abuse) by sometimes by becoming aggressive," says Cooper emergency medicine and child abuse specialist Dr. Kathy McCans (third from left in back row of photo). "One of the hardest things is, there is not a single sign that tells us that a child has been abused. It's really about paying attention to changes and differences."
It's also important, she says, not to tolerate children being treated in a derogatory manner.
"When I see them go from the injury to all of a sudden they are starting to get better -- their eyes light up, the arms reach up (when you) give them a toy -- they are just beautiful kids," says Sue Butler (center of photo), a pediatric ICU nurse who says she sees these young victims every day.
But Butler hopes campaigns like this raise enough awareness to snuff out child abuse out all together.
Cooper Hospital will be bathed in blue light each night this month as another reminder.
