Safe Ride News is pleased to report that Dr. Marilyn Bull has received a Champions of Change award from the White House and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Dr. Bull was recognized, along with 10 other recipients, at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in October. The award honors individuals who have made a positive mark on the community by innovating in the field of transportation safety. (Pictured left DOT head, Secretary Anthony Foxx, presented Dr. Marilyn Bull with a Champions of Change award in October.)
In Dr. Bull’s case, the award truly recognizes a lifetime of CPS achievement. She is the Morris Green Professor of Pediatrics at the Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. During her long pediatric career, Dr. Bull has taken a special interest in promoting the safe transportation of children, especially those with special healthcare needs.
One of her many accomplishments is the development, along with her team at IU’s Automotive Safety Program, of the curriculum “Safe Travel for All Children,” which is the definitive training for special needs transport, both nationally and internationally. Dr. Bull has also been a key participant in many other projects that have improved child safety. Topics include, but are not limited to, protocols and techniques for CPS on ambulances, guidelines for CPS-related hospital discharge policies, and the development of special needs devices, like car beds.
Dr. Bull has also been a positive influence on the CPS field in many less obvious, but important, ways. As a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and its Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention, she co-authored many of the seminal CPS-focused policy statements and clinical reports it has issued.
The announcement of this award also gives SRN the opportunity to express admiration for the countless hours Dr. Bull has spent connecting with CPSTs through state, regional, and national conferences. SRN also owes a debt of gratitude for her many years of service as a member of this publication’s editorial review board.
Through all these efforts and more, Dr. Bull has been instrumental in ensuring that CPS best practice is rooted in medical science and is an important element of pediatric care.