Proper Car Seat Installation can save lives. I am very excited to report that MyCarlady is now a certified Car Seat installation technician, having completed the course offered by certifying body: SAFEKIDS Worldwide. No simple task, this four day course opened my eyes to all the minute details which make the difference between life and death for a infant, child, toddler or young child, when involved in a car crash.
“We don’t say accidents,” one instructor announced, “because that takes the seriousness out of the situation.”After trying to comprehend the fact that less than 10% of all car seats checked last year in Clark County, by the volunteers of SAFEKIDS, were actually installed correctly. Whether it is ignorance or laziness, parents are playing Russian Roulette with their most precious possession on a daily basis. Accidents happen, but crashes resulting in the injury of a child are most often preventable, hence the statement by one instructor: “we don’t call them accidents, because that takes the seriousness out of the situation.” “Car crashes are actually 3-in 1 situations,” Heather W., an instructor and President of SAFEKIDS in Nevada explained. “There is the CAR getting damaged, that’s one crash. Then there are the other two; the physical crash that occurs in the car as the human body makes contact with the car insides and all the flying debris (or outside if you aren’t buckled up). The third is the internal crash. The Internal crash is all your bodily organs slamming around inside you, restrained or not.” Now imagine an infant with no bones formed yet or an 8 year old weighing 50 lbs. not buckled into a proper restraint. You get the picture.
FREE CAR SEAT CHECKS
The SAFEKIDS organization holds free car seat checks*, around the community on a regular basis. You can find a list on their website: www.safekids.org. These are a great opportunity to learn the proper car seat style choice (fit not fabric), installation, direction, harness, and location in the car, for your child. If you are going to a car seat event it is best to bring your car seat and vehicle manual and child (unless unborn) with you. Prepare to be there for at least 30 minutes, and to participate in the installation. Hands-on is the best way to learn.Know the history of your car seat. When it was made, if it has been in an accident and what the expiration date is. The plastic and belt webbing ages through normal wear and tear, the heat and cold. Keeping a car seat in the garage between the birth of children could compromise the structural integrity of the seat. Recalls, technology and regulations change constantly. Register your car seat so you get the updates and announcements. There is so much more I learned, I wish every new parent and grand-parent could take a version of this class. The instructors in Las Vegas are awesome, and you will meet many of them if you visit a SAFEKIDS, UMC, or County car seat event. Please come by and let us check your child car seats, boosters and LATCH systems. It’s FREE, and could save your child’s life. Tell the installer MyCarlady told you to come by.“All car seats have expiration dates.”