ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. –
September marks the 24th anniversary of Baby Safety Month, reminding parents that one of the first responsibilities every new parent has is ensuring their child's safety while traveling.
Mary Bair, registered nurse, maternal-child educator and certified car seat technician of Southern Maryland Hospital, estimates 90 percent of the time, the car seats her team inspects are improperly installed.
"Our car seat program got started when we found out that many people were improperly installing their car seats," said Ms. Bair. "We thought that the area police and fire departments provided this service, but that isn't the case. You have to be certified for car seat installations and we found out there weren't many certified techs in the area. Initially you take a 32-hour course with testing and demonstrations then every two years, you have to recertify by demonstration and continuing education."
In 2003, Southern Maryland Hospital's first year of the certified car seat installation program, Ms. Bair estimates that she and her team installed or checked more than 1,000 seats providing these families with much-needed assistance and the program has continued to grow from there.
Team Andrews has two volunteers, Lt. Col. Ray Plumley, Family Medicine physician and medical director of the Family Medicine Clinic at Malcolm Grow Medical Center and Maj. Constance Jackson, a family practice resident, who give their time with Southern Maryland Hospital Center's car seat program.
"We are so appreciative of having them come to help and informing parents and patients at Andrews of this service," said Ms. Bair.
"I completed my training as a child passenger safety technician in March 2006," said Colonel Plumley. "As a family physician, I have the opportunity to counsel parents on child passenger safety every day so the training has been very helpful to ensure I'm passing on the correct information."
"Motor Vehicle crashes are the number 3 cause of death for toddlers age 1 to 3 years old and the leading cause of death of children from 4 to 15 years old," said Colonel Plumley. "Several studies have reaffirmed the effectiveness of appropriately used child restraint systems but unfortunately they are not always easy to install correctly. More than 70 percent of all child restraint seats are installed with some type of critical misuse (where the child restraint is not properly used, which could lead to injury). This is why it is so important for parents to have their child restraint seats inspected by a certified technician and this is why I volunteer my time."
"It's a misconception that all car seats fit all cars and all babies fit all car seats. Definitely, safety-wise, the car seat has to fit the child and the vehicle," said Ms. Bair. "Just because a car seat is consumer rated doesn't mean you'll have the ability to install it in your car. The center position of the back seat is the safest location, but this confuses parents since the latch system is not usually in this spot."
Once the car seat is properly installed, the parent must make sure the baby is safely secured in the seat. "In an accident, the harness needs to be snug and the harness clip in the right position or the baby can be thrown from the seat even if the seat is properly secured," said Ms. Bair.
Ms. Bair further explained that for the safety of the infant and in the case of the car's impact, it is Maryland law that if a child is 20 lbs. or less and younger than 1 year, the child must face the rear.
Regardless of age and weight, "infants and older children need to be restrained with an infant car seat, a convertible car seat, or a booster seat. With older children, you must ensure the child's tailbone is flush to the back of the seat and the seat belt fits over their hip and not their abdomen. If so they probably don't need a booster seat in this seat. Children should be evaluated for each vehicle they ride in, because the child could suffer abdominal injuries otherwise. Children also need to use the lap shoulder belt properly, and no one should use just a lap belt only." Ms. Bair explained.
Car seat checks are held the third Saturday of every month from 2:30 to 4 p.m., by appointment, and are open to the community. Infant car seats are the first appointments of the day as they are easier to install. Convertible car seats usually take several certified technicians to properly install the seat and are scheduled for the later appointment times. For more information, contact Ms. Bair at 301-877-5740 or e-mail marybair@southernmarylandhospital.com.