5-month-old baby sent from the clinic 10 miles away for a respiratory workup. Baby arrived in an infant carrier with a heavy furry blanket over him. Remove that blanket and find Baby resting on top of another one....with the seat's safety straps under that! After eval and treatment, as part of his discharge, I spoke with mom via an interpreter about the carrier and the child safety seat law. First the mom lies and says that she put the blanket under Baby when they got to the hospital. I confronted her on that and she just laughed. When I asked her if she knew what the law was, she was able to recite it. Her brother drove her and Baby to the ER and he tried to excuse it by saying "I'm a very safe driver."
I am so tired of the stupidity, and stupidity is just what it is. Just around Thanksgiving there was an SUV rollover, with a 2-month-old ejected and killed. Two older kids in the car were badly injured, as well as the grandma. The baby's mom was driving down the freeway, Grandma was in the back seat changing baby's diaper, and the two older kids were in seats but improperly restrained.
There is no excuse for this....in this county all medicaid moms who get prenatal care go through a program and get free strollers and corificeats, and they're taught how to use those corificeats.
How many more children have to die before this stops???
Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
QUOTE>>>>.The OP stated that she referred to Medicaid moms because they are an example of a group that gets documented 1:1 education and still can have problems. Other people can use the excuse that they were never shown the correct way to install/use/fasten the seats, but even when this is done, parents don't always do it right.
Why does the mention of Medicaid automatically bring up race? Doesn't that carry a certain amount of bias to assume that Medicaid makes it racial?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Again I'll try to point out that I am speaking about race AND socio-economic status and when I have time to sit and search I'll find some stats to prove my point and again I'll state that THERE SHOULD BE NO EXCUSE...NONE........Not properly restraining your child in an approved car seat is negligence. If the child is injured or killed as a result it should be MURDER-no matter what color your skin is or how much money you make..NO EXCUSES.
I cannot report someone for something that happened before, only if she were to leave in the same manner. I can flag her for a social services referral to check on her, which we did.
:uhoh21: :uhoh21: :uhoh21: TazziRN, I am really confused now. I know you can't report something BEFORE it happens.
To comment on Hitmans posting- a distant family member of mone was killed in an accident with a semi trailer when it did not have enough braking time. They were in the opposite land and the semi had to slam on its brake because of an idiot in front of them, the trailer swerves into the other lane and they colided. The husband was rescued but the wife died on the scene, while our other family members were in a car behind them.
Give semis room on all sides!!! It could save your life.
At our local hospital when ny daughter had her baby last year before the baby could be brought home she had to take her car seat up to the nursery to have it inspected before the baby could be discharged.
QUOTE>>>>.The OP stated that she referred to Medicaid moms because they are an example of a group that gets documented 1:1 education and still can have problems. Other people can use the excuse that they were never shown the correct way to install/use/fasten the seats, but even when this is done, parents don't always do it right.
Why does the mention of Medicaid automatically bring up race? Doesn't that carry a certain amount of bias to assume that Medicaid makes it racial?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Again I'll try to point out that I am speaking about race AND socio-economic status and when I have time to sit and search I'll find some stats to prove my point and again I'll state that THERE SHOULD BE NO EXCUSE...NONE........Not properly restraining your child in an approved car seat is negligence. If the child is injured or killed as a result it should be MURDER-no matter what color your skin is or how much money you make..NO EXCUSES.
We don't disagree and I don't think there's anything to prove. I'm not excusing anyone from their obligation to keep their kids safe, only agreeing with the OP that not even being at the lower end of the socio-economic scale gets you off the hook since special efforts are being made to ensure that they understand what to do.
Kids can die in fully loaded SUVs and they end up just as dead as the ones who went out in a rusted sedan or ten-year-old minivan. The flawed part of human nature --selfishness, laziness, desire for convenience, denial, stupidity, false sense of security, etc.--knows no boundaries.
At the next redlight I rolled my window down and "complimented" her on the "airbag" she held in her arms. She got angry...I got called into the office:uhoh3:
Some folks have no common sense...But then, common sense is not so common anymore.
This is probably not the best thread to mention it - but I loved this comment!
I agree with Miranda - sadly, the flawed part of human nature knows no boundries. And it is doubly painful when innocents pay for the mistakes of others
:uhoh21: :uhoh21: :uhoh21: TazziRN, I am really confused now. I know you can't report something BEFORE it happens.
You asked if I hotlined her. I can't because what she did happened before she arrived in my ER. I can't prove that she drove the baby down unrestrained. When the baby left my ER he was properly restrained. All I could do was flag the chart for social services so that someone can make a home visit.
Another instance involved a dog riding loose in the back of a pick-up with no tail gate. The driver slammed on the brakes. The dog flew out of the truck and landed on the hood of the vehicle following behind. The lab broke the windshield upon impact. Thankfully no one (including the dog) was hurt.
I doubt anyone will be surprised because the trend here is the same as with all crime in the US-if you are a rich and white you have a much better chance of getting away with murder in this country.
LOL! I guess the previous comment could be modified to say "rich and white or rich and a celebrity". Whether or not he's white seems more a matter of state of mind than melanin.
God's intervention for both the dog and the person driving the car. Actually dogs fall out of pick ups all the time no road rash or no injury at at all. Kind of depends on the speed, the fall, the surface, the weight of the dog and several other factors. All I know is that when they get hurt, they ususally break something expensive ie. spiral fracture to the femur or require extensive wound care for the lacerations. People are better off not to allow their dogs to ride unrestrained in the back of a pick-up or open bed of a truck. It is safer for the other drivers, dog, and the owner's wallet. This it at the top of my Stupid Owner Sydrome (SOS) list. Wish we could charge more for SOS's.
:uhoh21: :uhoh21: 
:uhoh21: TazziRN, I am really confused now. I know you can't report something BEFORE it happens.
Lovely RN
52 Posts
It burns me up when I am driving and a see a parent with a child in their lap while driving.