Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. Celebrates 125th Anniversary of First Aid Kit with Consumer Education Campaign on First Aid Preparedness

SKILLMAN, N.J., June 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Topical Healthcare Brands of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., including BAND-AID^® Brand Adhesive Bandages and NEOSPORIN^® products, today celebrate the 125^th anniversary of the First Aid Kit.  In 1888, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. pioneered the first commercial First Aid Kits, which were originally designed to help railroad workers care for the wounds and injuries they received from laying railroad track.  Since then, the First Aid Kit has become indispensable in the daily lives of consumers—and can now be found in family homes, the workplace and everywhere in between.  To commemorate this milestone, the Brands have launched a new campaign focused on everyday care that provides funding and resources to help educate consumers about the importance of first aid preparedness.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/62096-johnson-johnson-first-aid-kit-125-th-anniversary-everyday-care-campaign

Everyday Care Campaign
The Everyday Care campaign kicks off with a partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide that leverages the support of Maggie Gyllenhaal on an initiative to prevent childhood injuries by helping educate children and their caretakers about sports safety.

Consumers can support this campaign by creating custom First Aid Kits. When they purchase three or more first aid products—such as BAND-AID^® Brand Adhesive Bandages, NEOSPORIN^® products, Johnson & Johnson RED CROSS^® Brand First Aid products and BENADRYL^® Anti-itch Topicals products—they will receive a free first aid bag. For every bag redeemed, the Topical Healthcare Brands will donate to Safe Kids Worldwide*.

"We are proud to continue our tradition of helping consumers provide comfort and care to their families every day through our partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide," said Carmen Nestares, Marketing Director at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.  "Now, when consumers create their custom First Aid Kits, they are not only contributing to a great cause, they are also better preparing themselves and their families with products that fit their specific needs—whether they are getting ready for a summer trip, camp, sporting activities, or simply just updating their medicine cabinets."   

"With this donation, we will be able to create Sports Safety Clinic Kids' Zones where children will learn important tips such as how to stay properly hydrated, the importance of warming up, how to handle injuries and how to identify a concussion," said Kate Carr, President and CEO, Safe Kids Worldwide.  "We are excited the Topical Healthcare Brands of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. have joined our cause to help provide this life saving education to families across the country."

Maggie Gyllenhaal has also joined in support of this campaign.  "I am happy to help celebrate this anniversary and lend my support to Safe Kids Worldwide to help ensure that families have access to essential first aid safety information," said Maggie Gyllenhaal.  "Every family should have first aid essentials in their home."

Helping Consumers Better Prepare
As the First Aid Kit enters a new era, the Brands conducted a recent survey with Wakefield Research to gauge the level of first aid preparedness and knowledge among consumers.  The survey revealed that many are not adequately prepared to handle everyday first aid situations:

• 2 in 5 (42%) Americans have been unable to care for an injury because they did not have the first aid supplies on hand.
• A majority of respondents (62%) say they do not currently have an emergency preparedness plan in place, including an up-to-date first aid kit, emergency meeting place and copies of important documents.
• Nearly half (46%) of respondents incorrectly believe that an uncovered wound heals faster than a covered wound.
• Nearly a third (31%) of adults do not own a first aid kit and even those that do may not be completely prepared to handle everyday first aid emergencies, because it has been an average of six months since they have checked them for expired products.

To help consumers learn more about the importance of first aid and be better prepared for minor injuries, the Topical Healthcare Brands have created a new microsite that offers important tips as well as valuable coupons for products.

To learn more about the history of the First Aid Kit, please visit the Kilmer House blog.

About the Topical Healthcare Brands of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.
The Topical Healthcare Brands of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. market BAND-AID^® Brand Adhesive Bandages, NEOSPORIN^® products, Johnson & Johnson RED CROSS^® Brand First Aid products and BENADRYL^® Anti-itch Topicals products.  For more information, please visit www.healthyessentials.com/buildyourkit.

About Safe Kids Worldwide
Safe Kids Worldwide is a global network of organizations dedicated to providing parents and caregivers with practical and proven resources to protect kids from unintentional injuries, the number one cause of death to children in the United States. Throughout the world, almost one million children die of an injury each year, and every one of these tragedies is preventable.  Safe Kids works with an extensive network of more than 600 coalitions in the U.S. and in 23 countries to reduce traffic injuries, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings and more. Since 1988, Safe Kids has helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by 53 percent. Working together, we can do much more for kids everywhere. Join our effort at safekids.org.

Available media resources:

• First Aid Kit historical information and images
• Modern First Aid Kit images and information
• Research data and methodology available upon request

For more information please contact:

Lori Dolginoff                
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.                                                       
(646) 662-6513                                                                     
[email protected]                                       

Edwige Buteau
RF|Binder
(212) 994-7517
[email protected]

Jen Pollakusky
Safe Kids Worldwide
(202) 662-4476
[email protected]

Survey Methodology:
The survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,000 U.S. adults, ages 18+, between April 23rd and May 1st, 2013, using an email invitation and an online survey.  Quotas have been set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the U.S. adult population 18+.  Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For the interviews conducted in this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.

* For every bag redeemed, the Topical Healthcare Brands will donate $0.15 to Safe Kids Worldwide, up to $10,000. Promotion is available at CVS store locations nationwide.

SOURCE Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.