Car seat safety should be the top priority while driving your kids around. Do you know if you are not putting your family in danger?
Don’t worry because today you will learn where in Morden you can be educated about it.
Ti’an Hildebrand told me the importance of having a car seat properly installed.
She is one of the three volunteers that offers her knowledge in order to help parents and caregivers ensure their children are traveling safely in a vehicle by teaching them how to have a car seat safety.
Car Seat Safety ensures that you drive your children worry-free
Q: How did you start working with car seat safety?
I saw in March 2017 there was a Child Restraint Systems course being offered by Manitoba Public Insurance with Saint John’s Ambulance in Carman which I signed up for to expand my own knowledge to ensure proper use and installation of my own children’s car seats. While in attendance at the two-day course I had the privilege of sitting next to a recertifying technician and established member of Pembina Valley Car Seat Technicians, Cassandra Worms. After receiving my certification I began to assist with their monthly clinics.
Q: Tell us a bit more about your experience in this field
There is a great deal of information to learn and continue to learn. March 2017 I got my certification with Saint John’s Ambulance, and then I transferred my certification from them to nationally recognized Child Passenger Safety Association of Canada in August 2017. Since being certified with CPSAC my knowledge base has expanded exponentially. It’s remarkable to have a community of technicians all over the country who are each such a great resource with up to date training and information, timely notification of recalls and news regarding up and coming/newly released Child Restraint Systems.
Q: How do you see the importance of what you teach to the community?
Safety. Ultimately we at PVCST do what we do to ensure children are given the opportunity to be riding safely in a vehicle.
Q: How is your service offered in the city?
We have monthly clinics at the Morden Fire Hall the Second Tuesday of every month from 6pm-7pm. We also do our best to meet up with parents and caregivers outside of clinic hours when need be. We have been present at Teddy Bear Picnics, Fire Hall Open Houses, and Healthy Baby Programs in an effort to increase awareness of our service and offer proper education for those interested.
Q: How much do you charge?
We are volunteers so we do not charge for our service. However, we happily accept donations to go towards covering our costs.
Q: Do you have any statistics about accidents that could have been avoided through a car seat safety check previously being done?
Collisions aren’t exactly avoidable. They do happen and there aren’t statistics that have been gathered around a check being done versus not being done.
The statistics surrounding misuse is astronomical. Upwards of 90% of seats are being used incorrectly. The proper installation of the seat into the vehicle, and the child being properly restrained within the seat itself go hand in hand. When both of those are done correctly the risk of injury or death from a collision decrease significantly. There are studies that use different statistics.
The most recent published Canadian study that we use is the Beth Bruce study that found:
– Rear Facing car seats: 65% misuse
– Forward Facing car seats: 79% misuse
Check the info below:
Roadside observation of child passenger restraint use
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute
Rear Facing is protective in frontal AND side-impact crashes, so that’s 79% of fatalities right there.
Q: Do you feel that this subject is addressed correctly to the parents/caregivers in the community? Which channel should be the best for this?
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation being given to parents and caregivers on a regular basis. Every car seat is different, and the requirements for each stage are different as well. Be it Rear Facing, Forward Facing, Booster Riding or using the Seat Belt there are minimum requirements that need to be met in accordance with the law, and optimal safety. We of course always encourage the use of the maximum possible limits of any seat and education is a huge component to those maximums being reached by more children, more often. There are technicians all over the country, 3 of us right here in Morden serving the Pembina Valley. A lot of our clientele is through word of mouth due to years of our service being offered in the region. We are available to offer educational presentations to groups who are seeking to learn more about child passenger safety.
USED CAR SEATS CHECKLIST
We strongly discourage the use of used car seats. The longevity of a seat depends on the growth stats of the child using it. We recognize some seats are outgrown before they expire and there may not be another child to pass it down to. The proper use, maintenance and storage of a car seat need to be considered when a child's life is at risk if those criteria have not been met in accordance with the seat manufacturer. The checklist is a helpful tool in making an educated decision for the best interests of the child's safety.
Watch a licensed Safety Technician in action
I don’t have kids but I would make sure to follow all Ti’an’s advises for sure!
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