Car Seat Stories or information?

kbclary4 · Nov 8, 2005

I can give you a personal story that has convinced me to keep kids in a rear-facing car seat as long as possible.

When my sis was a baby, we were in a car accident and she was in a front-facing car seat. I don't know exactly how old she was, I was only four at the time, but she was not a newborn. Anyway, the impact of the crash threw her seat forward into the back of the front passenger seat. It rested with the top of the car seat balancing on the back of the front car seat and she was basically hanging upside down. She slipped out and landed in the floor all over some glass (from me going through the side window) and had to get stitches all over her head. Luckily, that was her only injury, but it could have been much worse.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Nov 8, 2005

Call your local EMS, I'm sure they will have tons of stories.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Nov 8, 2005

I can tell you exactly where to get information. One place to go is to the manufacturers of car seats. There are several. They have websites. You might have to take a little walk through the section of a store where they sell them to find the names of these companies. Also, any car dealership is supposed to have one person on their staff who can answer questions about the installation of children's car seats. I found that out when I called the 1-800 number of one of these car seat manufacturers when I was having trouble figuring out how to get their dog gone car seat installed in my car. (And before the parents out there start a war on me, let me explain that I've never had kids and my brother-in-law sent over a car seat for my car so I could haul their son around town while they were busy.) This is how I found the information I've given you above. I was also referred to the police departments, state highway patrol and local EMT services for information as well--somebody in their public relations department of these organizations will know about this. You might have a state agency of public safety in your state that can give you information as well. You should also do a search of your state car seat laws just to put some polish on your talk. There are a number of regulations (federal, I think) regulating the manufacture of these things.

nicunana · Nov 8, 2005

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has an awesome website. http://www.nhtsa.gov will give you loads of information on car seats.

Good Luck!

Q. · Nov 8, 2005

I called the 1-800 number of one of these car seat manufacturers when I was having trouble figuring out how to get their dog gone car seat installed in my car. (And before the parents out there start a war on me, let me explain that I've never had kids and my brother-in-law sent over a car seat for my car so I could haul their son around town while they were busy.)

No war here, and I'm a parent and we had trouble installing the thing! :chuckle

PamUK · Nov 8, 2005

I think you should also include info about the pro's & cons of each of the different kinds of car seats (front facing/rear facing) And also obtaining the correct car seat for the size of the child. The others are right, there is a huge amount of info on the internet

I have a funny story to tell about my granddaughter. You wont be able to use it in your presentation, but I want to share cos she is positively EDIBLE! She is 2 years old & I was looking after her for my son & his partner for a week. Well actually, I had "kidnapped" her on the pretence that they needed a well earned break.

I fitted the car seat correctly (it took me an hour to work it out & had to look on the internet to get my answers) in the front seat... But I have a soft top car & since it was such a gorgeous day, I put the roof down. She was OK in the driveway, but as my speed increased as we went up the street, she gripped the sides of her seat tightly, turned & looked at my with her eyes like saucers and said "Hold Tight!!" I think she thought we were about to take off into space! She loved it.

labornurse · Nov 8, 2005

There may be some corificeat checkpoints scheduled in your area. The seat techs will have some good stories.

I am one of several car seat techs in our town. We hold several check points through out the year. There is one story about one of our check points I'd like to pass on. A mom was on her way to a major city for some shopping from our small town. There was a check point that day and she came in to have her 3 year old son's car seat checked. We found things that definitely needed to be changed, and educated her on correct installation and placing the child correctly in the seat, as well as, the correct way to buckle herself in. They left the check point and started to drive directly to their destination. On the way, a car passing a semi failed to see her in her lane. She sweved and rolled her car. The officers at the scene said that if she and her son had not been belted in correctly, they would have both been dead. They both had a few bruises and scratches, but no serious injuries. Definitley important to buckle up!:)

WSU_Ally_RN, BSN, RN · Nov 8, 2005

If you have access to any nursing journals, I'm sure you can find tons of info in them on this subject... seems to me this is something that reorificeach should have been done on.... good luck!

MadRedneckRN · Nov 8, 2005

I've been in EMS for 20 + years. One of the worst calls I've ever had was about 15 years ago. It was in the winter time, snowing, about midnight.

We were dispatched to the freeway to auto vs phone pole. Mom and Dad were in seatbelts and walked away. 18 month old baby girl was unrestrained in the back seat. Mom said she cried too much to buckle her into the seat. Baby was imbedded from her ears up into the dash board where you would expect the radio to be. She died on impact I hope. Sorry this is so graphic, I could go into more details about the extrication PM me if you want. I have many seatbelt/corificeat stories

Lori

BabyRN2Be · Nov 8, 2005

If you'd like more general information on car seats, you could call your local labor and delivery educational program at a hospital in your area. I remember that they gave me a lot of good information to pass on to my clients about car seats.

NICU_nurse2b · Nov 9, 2005

I have a funny story to tell about my granddaughter. You wont be able to use it in your presentation, but I want to share cos she is positively EDIBLE! She is 2 years old & I was looking after her for my son & his partner for a week. Well actually, I had "kidnapped" her on the pretence that they needed a well earned break.

I fitted the car seat correctly (it took me an hour to work it out & had to look on the internet to get my answers) in the front seat... But I have a soft top car & since it was such a gorgeous day, I put the roof down. She was OK in the driveway, but as my speed increased as we went up the street, she gripped the sides of her seat tightly, turned & looked at my with her eyes like saucers and said "Hold Tight!!" I think she thought we were about to take off into space! She loved it.

That story is too Cute!!