R Baby Heroes

Dr. Richard Flyer

Community-based General Pediatrician and Child Advocate

R Baby is proud to honor Dr. Richard Flyer with our Baby Hero Award. Dr. Flyer, a passionate champion of children’s medicine, created and led a coalition of medical professionals (pediatricians, emergency physicians and nurses), child advocates and parent groups that resulted in the passage of the nation’s first Emergency Medical Services for Children Law. That landmark legislation was passed in New Jersey in 1992. Dr. Flyer stated, “Our goal must be: create systems to care for kids that are seamless and highly regulated, so as to assure our children get the best care possible. Our children deserve the right help at the right time in the right place, by the right people with the right training and the right equipment. Anything short of that will not save them.”

Upon receiving the R Baby Hero Award Dr. Flyer said:

“R Baby represents real hope that our country will finally treat its sickest kids expertly, and I am so grateful to R Baby for this honor. Working with R Baby has given me renewed energy to fight on behalf of our critically ill and injured children.

In this era of medical miracles, the unthinkable occurs: children are routinely neglected and inappropriately cared for when they need emergency care. For over four decades, this tragedy has been known to the country’s pediatricians, emergency physicians, emergency nurses, and first responders; and likewise, our country’s hospitals, and our state and federal public health officials, have all been aware of this failure. The public has been led to believe otherwise.

We cannot expect this crisis to end by wishful thinking. All who care for and about children must learn the truth. Once educated about the crisis and its solutions, informed adults must pressure governments to pass and fund the laws required to rescue our children.”