Today I completed the safety seat certification course! I am now officially a certified safety seat technician. The last day of the course was to attend a safety seat checkup. It was another great learning experience. During all of this intensive training, our instructors would discuss a lot about the misuse of car seats we would be seeing at these checkups. With all this discussion I was ready to see some car seats improperly installed, but I never thought it would be EVERY seat that came in!
My very first inspection was a Chevy Tahoe that a mom had driven in to be inspected with her son who just turned one a week ago. At very first glance of the seat, I could see at least three things that were wrong. As I checked the seat further, this is what I found:
1. Child was 26 pounds in a seat that was only rated for 22 pounds
2. Harness straps were so loose the child could slip himself out of them
3. The chest clip (also called retainer clip) that was supposed to be at arm pit level was almost at his stomach.
4. The base of the car seat was attached with the LATCH system, and then the car’s lap/shoulder belt was strapped over the car seat.
5. The seat moved far beyond the 1″ movement side to side and front to back.
6. The child’s head was all the way to the top of the seat when you need at least 1″ space from the top of the seat.
This is in the gross misuse category. This child was not protected by his car seat whatsoever.
I asked the mother if she could go to a nearby Babies R Us and purchase a new seat that would fit him so we could install then teach her how to install it properly. She explained that she has been out of work, and couldn’t afford a new seat at this time. When the Executive Director of SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. Stephanie Tomberello heard what was going on, she instructed me to donate a convertible seat that would fit her child all the way until he was ready for a belt positioning booster seat. She made not only made this mom’s day, but gave this one year old safe transportation for probably the first time in his life! I installed the seat for her while educating her on the method’s of installation needed to get the seat installed properly. I then removed the seat and asked (to her surprise) that she now install the seat the way I had shown her. She installed it perfectly the first time! It is such a great feeling to know that child is safe in his new car seat, and an even better feeling to know this mom now knows how to install this safety seat and will be able to show other’s the same.
Special thanks to my instructors Stephanie Tomberello, Erin Malone, Officer Peterson and Officer Kellems. Your experience and training abilities have given something I can pass on to the community and my clients for many many years to come.
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