First day of CPS class!

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
First of all, the composition of my class:
- 14 Fire/Rescue cadets
- 4 Marines (???)
- 3 state troopers
- 2 nurses from a local OB unit at a hospital (forgot to add them when I first posted)
- 1 NHTSA collision reconstruction engineer
- and .... me.... :D (they all looked at me like "you don't HAVE to be here?")

So now I have to take back what I said about FF/police not really knowing much or being into it (well, not sure if they're "into it"). The instructor was a FF and the FIRE CHIEF (!) has been a CPS instructor for 6 years now. And they really know their stuff. I was very impressed that the county has all of the FF cadets go through the full blown CPS course and their grade in the course factors into their grade for FF trainee school (not sure what you call that...?).

The sheriff deputy (ALSO an instructor) talked awhile and brought up the topic of a recent crash in which two people were killed in a Jeep Wrangler. He added that soft top Jeep Wranglers are "death traps". (oops - mine was sitting right outside in the parking lot...) He went on to say that he told his teenage kids that he will match them dollar-for-dollar when they're ready to purchase a car, but if he EVER catches them riding in a Jeep Wrangler, then the deal is off. :eek: I did relay all of this to DH during our break - he really loves his Wrangler....

Back to the class - I really like it so far. The county that's giving it is a pretty wealthy county about an hour from here. So they went out and purchased a bunch of new seats to play with...:p Of course, I was drooling over them the whole time but we didn't play with them today. We talked mainly about seatbelts today.

Oh, at the end of class, we had to check out four different cars and fill out a checklist about what type of seatbelts were in there, etc. I noticed that Ford's lower anchors are HUGE! They're quite beefy, at least in the Taurus that we looked at.

I'll update more tomorrow ;)

Maria
 
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scatterbunny

New member
So glad you had a great first day, and that the instructor(s) are good! Have they touched on extended rear-facing yet at all?
 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
So glad you had a great first day, and that the instructor(s) are good! Have they touched on extended rear-facing yet at all?

Thanks, Jenny :) No, they haven't actually talked about it much. One of the instructors did mentioned it briefly when talking about what you encounter at seat checks. She said that parents will complain that "little Johnny's toes" were touching the backseat so they turned him around early and how she explains that "little Johnny can live with broken toes but not a broken neck". So I think she was talking about infants, not toddlers/preschoolers. I'm definitely going to bring it up, but it'a annoying that even in the slides/manual, they have pictures of children a year (or younger in some cases) FF... :(
 

becca011906

Senior Community Member
I have been threw three days of my class w/ the last one thursday... for the test and seat check event. it's been LOTS of fun. First class, yeah no getting hands on w/ seats, day 2 and 3 will be more fun! :)
 

flipper68

Senior Community Member
So now I have to take back what I said about FF/police not really knowing much or being into it (well, not sure if they're "into it"). The instructor was a FF and the FIRE CHIEF (!) has been a CPS instructor for 6 years now. And they really know their stuff.


Yeah, one of my favorite instructors/senior checkers is a State Patrol officer. He sees lots of seats and really knows is his stuff. Maybe it's the gun, but people really listen to him as well. . .lol
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Sounds great!!! Here's hoping you don't get drenched every single day, that it's not 90 degrees every day, and that you don't have an Evil Instructor walking around saying that when they start talking they should go FFing.

Wendy
 

Gypsy

Senior Community Member
Sounds like you are having fun!

I'm taking the CPST course through Safe Kids in April, and I can't wait!!!
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
Sounds great, and LOL at the comment about you not having to be there. Hope you get to play with lots of seats today. :)
 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
Just finished the second day. Yes, we did get to play with the seats some. I was one of the few folks who had ever installed one, so I sat back and let the rest of my "team" practice. We chose the Britax Companion and Evenflo Triumph to install - that's all we had time to do today.

By the way, the instructor today (the Fire Chief) really pushed for extended RF... ! :D He got so fired up about it (no pun intended) that he was red in the face. So his protocol is this: he says that we'll see alot of parents who say "Oh, s/he just turned one - and it's time to turn them around! We're so excited about this big moment!" and then he says to try to talk them out of it and say it's much safer for a child to be RF: "A child should stay RF to the limit of the seat." (He repeated that quite a few times.) Then if the parents say they still want the child turned around, then say: "So let me get this right. You want me to install this seat in such a way that your child is not in the safest position?" Often they'll say "Uhh.... no. Just leave it RF." Sometimes they'll say "Yes", so you first have them watch you document it on the paperwork ("Parent advised to keep child RF but declined.") and then install it FF for them. He said to do this even if the child is already FF but it will be more of a battle... I was so glad to hear this!!!!
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Wow! Can I kiss your instructor? LOL Wow, he sounds awesome. How many of your classmates did a little dance under the table thinking about how they had turned their 1 year old and thought it was the cat's pajamas and are now rethinking?

YAY!

Wendy
 

MagnificentMama

Senior Community Member
Thanks for posting this!! I go for my training next month. Is there anything you'd suggest other students should bring to be more prepared, or were all the materials provided for you? :D
 

becca011906

Senior Community Member
all my materials were there... only thing i've used is my car over and over and over! LOL even used my car for 50 min AFTER i was done with my hands on part of the testing durring day 3 of the class! LOL
Tips for the class as i was told from great mams here... cut your nails, leave rings OFF, take water with ya in class, wear comfy clothes and longer shirts, layers, ect. it was about 12*F when i did my practicals with wind chill at 0*F i was in a long underwear shirt, tshirt, sweatshirt, and winter coat, and gloves, i go so hot putting a seat in that i had to take the big winter coat off... LOL
 

Alicia-N-2SafeBugs

Senior Community Member
OH what an awesome instructor!!! I love that now a whole class full of techs has been taught the RIGHT way to do it (not just the minimums).
 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
Becca! Your experience sounds like mine - man, if we cold today here in the DC area! It was about 15 degrees or so - don't know what the windchill was later in the afternoon but it was zero this morning :eek: . We're supposed to get snow tonight but nothing's happened so far.

As for tips, I can't think of anything no one else has mentioned. We got a thick notebook with all the safety stuff in it (I think it's standard...?). I've learned alot. But, having installed Nolan's seats and from hanging out on this board, I feel that I knew alot more about seat installation that most of the other students in the class (only a couple of others in there have children or have ever installed a seat before).

One very insteresting thing I learned: NHTSA does not test seats before they go on the market. Only the manufacturer does that. Then NHTSA performs compliance testing if they receive a complaint or have a concern about a seat. Hmmm... makes me want to stick with the ones that have been around awhile and been tested through and through, whether by NHTSA or by withstanding accidents, etc. Just a thought ;)

I'm really glad that all of the instructors are for extended RF. I was going to have a hard time not arguing with them on that one, and the instructors I have really are used to being in charge. Lucky for me, they made it easy by really driving that point home... One thing they haven't discussed yet is the LATCH weight limits. Not sure if it will be discussed tomorrow or not, but - I think I'll bring it up if they don't.

As for aftermarket products, they said the best line of defense when parents ask: "It's not tested. Don't use it. You don't know how it's going to act in a crash." Same for using lower anchors and seatbelt at the same time: "Sure - sounds good. But it's not tested. Manufacturer says don't do it. So don't. When it breaks/malfunctions, do you want to face the manufacturer or judge and say, 'Well, it broke when I directly against the instructions?' So don't do it."

Very common sense approach to everything rather than getting into the "why" or "how it works" type of discussion...
 

becca011906

Senior Community Member
Becca, where are you taking the class? It sounds great...wish I had the childcare to do it!

Oh i should have told you about it when it started... I'm sorry!!! It's at the start farm in West Lafayette. being held by them... if you want your seats checked they are holding an event on thursday from 1-4 by appointment! :) come see me!!! it's been the past 3 thursdays all day long... this is the last thrusday... all we do is the test in the AM and the seat check in the afternoon and as of last week there were only 2 appoitments for the check event...
 

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