Brighten Your Day

Dutch Police Keep 'Trauma Bears' On Them For Children Involved In Accidents

March 19, 2018

Police officers in Holland have recently implemented the use of 'trauma bears' to help comfort children in distress.

In the video below, Dutch police arrive at the scene of an accident that involved two young children in one of the vehicles. Everyone was okay, but the officers use the teddy bears to help calm the kids down.

"I witnessed an accident a few years ago and a child that was involved was really really shaken," one person commented on the video. "The cop that was first on scene did a quick check then grabbed a stuffed animal from the trunk and gave it to the boy and sat him down to relax while the officer talked to the parents. The boy talked to the bear and it brought him back within just seconds of being sat down."

The idea of police and firefighters handing out teddy bears to kids in need of comfort started in 1969 by radio pioneer James Theodore Ownby, Colonel Robert Henderson from England, and English actor Peter Bull.

Together they launched the organization Good Bears Of The World to spread love and caring to children and the elderly who were in need of comfort with teddy bears.

Good Bears Of The World was the first group to donate teddy bears to police departments in the early 80s. The program has gained tremendous popularity in the last decade.

Since their founding, Good Bears Of The World has given hundreds of thousands of teddy bears to those in need of love and a hug.