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Getting car seat safety right
Mac Olsen
for South Peace News
Parents and caregivers may not be installing and using their child car seats correctly, or they may have the wrong type, so it’s important to get them inspected.
Michelle Hodder, a health promotions assistant for Alberta Health Services in Grande Prairie, held a course in High Prairie Jan. 20-22 to certify 11 people to inspect child car seats. They spent two days in the classroom and the third day at Rick’s Mobile Glass Service inspecting car seats for people who dropped by.
Hodder says a car seat may not be properly anchored, the harness may be too loose, it may be the wrong size or it could be placed in the wrong seat, including the front passenger seat. She recommends a rear facing infant car seat for children one year old and a maximum of 22 pounds; a forward facing seat for children 1˝ to four years old; and booster seats for children to eight years old and four foot, nine inches tall and to a maximum of 80 pounds.
Inspectors use a child safety sheet checklist for all three types of seats. For the rear facing seat, they look for things like the correct routing of the seat belt, if the locking clip is used correctly and if the handle is in the travel position.
For a forward facing seat, they look for things like whether the tether anchor is installed correctly. For a booster seat, they make sure the seatbelt is tight and the locking clip is used correctly.
Education is essential and more people should take the course, says Lindsay Bloom, a health promotions assistant for Alberta Health Services in High Prairie.
“We need more people to have the education,” she says. “For new parents, it’s good somebody can show them how to install the car seat property and it doesn’t take a lot of time.”
One person taking the course was Nicole Laurin, a public health nurse at the High Prairie Health Complex.
“It’s more learning the proper terminology and what to look for.”
Laurin has young children and to her surprise, she found her car seats were incorrectly installed. Many people have asked her to inspect their car seats and she encourages the public drop by her office.
Those who would like to take the course, please call Bloom at 780-523-6450.
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Michelle Hodder, left, inspected Tanya Groundwater’s car seat with her daughter in it, Megan Klassen. Groundwater appreciated the opportunity to get the seat inspected.
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Nicole Laurin inspects a car seat. She works as a public health nurse at the High Prairie Health Complex and encourages the public to get their car seats inspected with her.
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