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Cedar County, Mo., residents attend a free eye safety lecture in Cedar County Memorial Hospital’s classroom.

However, few farms or small manufacturers have the type of formal eye safety programs that are common among large employers. And rural residents, likely anyone, can be subject a variety of eye hazards in the course of day-to-day living or recreational activities, notes Michael Frier, O.D.

He and his wife, Cathy Frier, O.D., maintain the Family Vision Center, Cedar County’s only eye care practice, which sees a number of eye injury cases.

“People are unaware of the need for eye protection,” Dr. Frier observers. “Once you have an eye injury, then you become a believer in eye protection.”

Concerned about the number of eye injuries occurring in his Ozark Mountain community, Dr. Frier, early this year, began developing Be Kind to Your Eyes, an eye safety public education program.

It turns out he was not alone in his thinking.

At about the same he began work on his project, Dr. Frier was contacted for technical advice by Cedar County Memorial Hospital (CCMH), which was developing its Eye Safety Campaign 2009, to reduce blindness and visual impairment in children and adolescents age 17 and younger by increasing use of appropriate personal protective eyewear in recreational activities and in hazardous situations around the home.

The hospital was seeking a grant from the National Eye Institute’s (NEI) Healthy Vision Community Award program for the outreach project.

At almost the same time, Dr. Frier received a call from LeeAnn Barrett, O.D., the executive director of the Missouri Optometric Association, suggesting he pursue an AOA Healthy Eyes Healthy PeopleTM (HEHP) grant for his public education effort.

Both the NEI Healthy Vision and AOA HEHP program offer grants to facilitate community awareness projects in support of the vision-related objectives outlined in Healthy People 2010, the nation’s official public health agenda.

Among those are the prevention of eye injury (Objective 28-8) and promoting the use of protective eyewear (Objective 28-9).

Both programs encourage collaborative efforts among health care entities and agencies. And both awarded grants this year to the Cedar County initiatives.

As a result, awareness of eye safety is being raised in Cedar County this year through public events, media coverage and a variety of local institutions, under a pair of cooperatively developed public education programs.

The Family Vision Center optometrists serve as expert eye safety advisers for both campaigns, providing information on not only how to prevent eye injuries but what to do when an eye injury occurs.

“Paramount to the success of the project has been the collaborative relationship with Drs. Mike and Cathy Frier. They have provided expert insight. They are very active in our community and were more than willing to work with us,” added Jana Witt, the hospital’s administrative project coordinator.

Both the Friers’ Family Vision Center and the hospital are located in Cedar County’s largest town, El Dorado Springs.

“CCMH is unique in that we not only operate the hospital, but we also manage two Rural Health Clinics and the Cedar County Health Department. We were able to disseminate project materials through all of these facilities,” said Witt.

“Knowing that individuals learn in various ways, we selected multiple routes of community outreach to spread our vision safety message,” Witt added.

Launched in March to coincide with the AOA’s annual observance of “Save Your Vision Month,” the joint eye safety campaign began with a well-attended, free public eye safety presentation by the optometrists in the hospital’s community classroom.

“Newspaper and radio advertisements invited area residents to this informative event that included a complimentary lunch provided by the hospital,” Witt said.

Press releases on both eye safety in the home and sports vision safety were prepared for use by local media during March.

The NEI’s annual May celebration of “Healthy Vision Month” was similarly observed in the hospital, its two rural health clinics, the county department and the Family Vision Center.

A portable eye safety exhibit, developed by the hospital (complete with take-home information and a model eye), was on display in each location for a week.

Adolescent patients seen at these facilities during May were given a drawstring sports bag developed by the hospital and filled with vision safety materials. The bags carried the message, “Don’t play games with your eyes. Use protective eyewear.”

With the celebration of Independence Day in July, advertising on fireworks safety was placed, public service announcements were sent to area radio stations, and a press release was distributed to the county’s newspapers.

Over the course of the summer, Dr. Frier arranged presentations before the local chamber of commerce and Optimist Club.

With school resuming in August, both Dr. Frier and the hospital turned their focus to area student athletes.

Packets with eye safety publications and instructional CDs about vision safety were distributed by the hospital to coaches at area public and private schools.

Dr. Frier is contacting coaches and school administrators to schedule in-school presentations.

During October, Dr. Frier plans to place additional newspaper advertising to emphasize the need for proper visibility in Halloween costumes.

The hospital plans to formally measure the success of the campaign by tracking the number of visits by eye care patients to its emergency room as compared to previous years.

“We are the main health care provider for the residents of our county,” said Jackie Boyles, the hospital’s chief executive officer. “We want to keep our local residents healthy, so we are constantly seeking ways to educate residents on health and safety.”

“We are just hoping to get out the message that people need to be cautious. Eye injuries can occur at the most unexpected times,” Witt added. “We want to teach our community how to protect their vision.”

After 31 years as part of the sole optometric practice in Cedar County, Dr. Frier views the eye safety project as more a matter of public service rather than securing a reputation in the community.

“Although medical eye care can be a good aspect of an optometric practice to remind people of, it helps to remind people that eye care is available through the local optometric practice,” Dr. Frier acknowledges. “A lot of people still think optometrists just fit eyeglasses.”

The NEI Healthy Vision Community Awards Program provides grants of up to $10,000.

The Cedar County hospital’s effort is among 36 projects to receive Healthy Vision Community Awards this year.

The AOA Healthy Eyes Healthy People^TM program provides grants of up to $3,000.

Dr. Frier’s project is among 57 that received Healthy Eyes Healthy People^TM funding this year.

The HEHP program is underwritten by Luxottica and Vision Service Plan, which have given $1 million to more than 200 projects in 46 states since the program’s inception in 2004.

For more information, visit www.aoa.org/hehp.xml.