Shriners Hospitals for Children will begin its annual burn awareness and prevention campaign the week of Feb. 3-9 as part of Burn Awareness Week.

Since the 1960s, Shriners Hospitals for Children has been a leader in burn care, research and education, and burn injury prevention is a key component in these efforts, according to information provided by Barry Crow of Wheeling..

Crow is a member of Osiris Shrine and serves as the public relations chair. “We have members living in Eastern Ohio and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia as well as the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia,” he noted. “We financially support Erie Hospital, which treats children with orthopedic needs, our hospital in Philadelphia and Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati, which is a burn center.”

Burn Awareness Week is Shriners Hospitals for Children’s kickoff of a yearlong educational campaign aimed at burn awareness and prevention that includes offering free educational materials via the website beburnaware.org. The items are designed to be a resource for firefighters, teachers, parents and others concerned with the safety and well-being of children.

This year’s effort will once again use the theme “Be Burn Aware” and focus on preventing burn injuries in the home, because the vast majority of preventable burn injuries continue to occur in residences, according to Crow.

Homes are the sites of thousands of burn injuries to children every year, including scalds, fire-related injuries and even electrical burns. Many of these incidents might have been easily prevented by following and implementing some basic safety tips, he noted.

The campaign features two child-friendly characters: Boots and Brewster — a caped, cuddly bear and a googly-eyed teapot — who are presented in activity books for children ages 3-7 and 8-12. The entertaining duo leads children through the various rooms of a house, pointing out dangers and how to easily correct or avoid them. The coloring pages, word searches, cartoons and other activities are designed to grab children’s attention and present the information in a memorable, age-appropriate manner. The campaign also includes various tip sheets and materials that emphasize prevention of scalds, and fire-related and electrical burns.

Shriners Hospitals also has created an animated video, Boots and Brewster: The Burn Awareness Pair, which kids are sure to enjoy, Crow said. . In the video, available on YouTube.com/ShrinersHospitals, Boots and Brewster take viewers on a fun and educational adventure to help them become more burn aware.

Everyone concerned with keeping children safe is encouraged to participate in the yearlong campaign by visiting beburnaware.org for burn prevention tips and information on how to order the free materials.

Shriners International, a fraternity based on fun, fellowship and the Masonic principles of brotherly love, relief and truth, founded Shriners Hospitals for Children as its official philanthropy in 1922.

What began as one hospital is now a world-renowned health care system with locations in three countries. The fraternity, which has nearly 200 chapters in several countries and thousands of clubs around the world, continues to support this unique health care system. For information, visit shrinersinternational.org.

According to publicity material, Shriners Hospitals for Children is changing lives every day through innovative pediatric specialty care, world-class research and outstanding medical education.

“Our health care system provides advanced care for children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. Shriners Hospitals for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and relies on the generosity of donors,” it notes.

All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. For information, visit shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.