It's a scene that plays over and over every day. A car veers off the road. People are injured. Emergency rescue workers are on the scene. In the midst of the sirens and flashing lights is a small child, crying and afraid.

The details might change, but the fear is the same when children are caught up in a traumatic situation.

"Truthfully, there is not much that puts the emergency rescue people in distress as much as a child in distress," said Fire Chief Reid Campbell of the West Sunbury Volunteer Fire Department.

Because the department often encounters children at the scene of a fire or accident, a new helper will be riding in their emergency vehicles: Tommy Moose, a cuddly stuffed toy with big antlers and an even bigger mission.

The toys have been donated to four area agencies by the Butler Moose Lodge 64 and Women of the Moose Chapter 260.

"You know small children are very frightened when there is an emergency. They might not understand what is taking place," said Chief Nick Ban of the Butler City Fire Department. "If a Tommy Moose can give them a little comfort, especially in a fire situation ... then I think it's a good thing."

Tommy Moose is a national program, according to Mike Dobson of Center Township, community service chairman of the Butler Moose Lodge. The program, which had been conducted on a local level, was expanded to a national level in 2003.

The program has been met with enthusiastic support across the country, according to Darryl Mellema, spokesman with the communications and public affairs office of Moose International in Mooseheart, Ill. The fraternal organization will soon ship the 100,000th Tommy Moose, he said.

Dobson said the Moose lodge first donated stuffed animals in 2004 to the Butler city police and fire departments. Renewed interest in the program led to the recent donations.

"Each month, we pick a different community service project," Dobson said, "and this was our project for September."

In addition to the agencies in West Sunbury and Butler, the toys also were donated to police in Butler Township. The toys are ordered through Moose International for $75 per dozen, Dobson said, and each organization received a dozen.

"When they run low, we'll resupply. It's not something they should go through real quick," he said.

Chief Gary Garman of the Butler Township Police said the Tommy Moose toys will be utilized in the traffic car.

"The whole idea behind this is that the kids, they're going to be scared, nervous. It's something to take their mind off of what occurred while their parents are cooperating with us."

Campbell doesn't expect his department in West Sunbury will be a "high volume" user of the toy, but he recognizes the value of having Tommy Moose on hand.

"We're involved with car accidents, injuries if something happens on the farm or in the home. We might be asked to go assist with the ambulance. It's not just fires," he said, noting West Sunbury answered 150 calls last year.

"We have the most interaction with people at scenes of car accidents where people may be injured or their family members injured," he said. "We'll have (the toys) as long as the Moose continues to sponsor this program."

Ban said his department answers about 2,600 calls a year. He sees Tommy Moose as an act of kindness and a way to make the job a little easier for firefighters on the scene.

"In a fire, you lose everything, not all the time, but a lot of the time. And you associate the moose with kindness, and giving and compassion. I think that's why the Moose got back into the program."

Ban, who also is a Moose lodge member, noted the lodge also has been active in supporting the fire prevention efforts of the department.

Dobson, himself a retired lieutenant from the Butler City Police Department, understands how meaningful a stuffed toy can be to a child in crisis.

"If little kids are in a traumatic situation, you give them a stuffed toy and it makes them feel better," he said.

Children also can be facing trauma of a different sort, according to Sgt. Dave Dalcamo, a detective with Butler City. Dalcamo said his department uses stuffed toys, including toys donated from other organizations, to help calm frightened children who end up at the police station.

"Police stations, they aren't that nice a place," he said. "Police stations are not child-friendly. ... We give a stuffed animal to play with. It makes us, the officers, look not so bad."

Butler City Police Chief Timothy Fennell agreed, noting children can end up at the police station as victims or witnesses.

"It helps them calm down," he said. "It helps to make contact with them, helps to break the ice."

Dalcamo said the toys also help calm children who are lost.

"They will be somewhat upset. They are in unfamiliar surroundings. Most of us here are men. So this is a friendly gesture.

"Or maybe it's another situation. Maybe dad beat up mom, or mom beat up dad," he continued. "We don't want to look like we're punishing the child here. So this is a little something to say, 'It wasn't your fault.'"

"Sometimes the simplest things can bring joy to someone in need" Ban said.

"You're going to a call for help at somebody's worst time," he added. "And you're not there just to mitigate the problem. You're there to help see them through."

More information about the Tommy Moose program is available on the Moose International Web site at www.mooseintl.org.