Train More Techs or Buy Carseats??

So without getting into boring details, around me our main CPST instructor believes in training mass police officers/fire fighters to be CPSTs and goes on about how there is no money for car seats. Totally understandable. We do have Cosco no back boosters to hand out, but that's it.

After really racking my brain, i'm debating whether or not to write a letter. This instructor was telling everyone in the class that if you're a police officer- he uses some grant money to fund the spots for this class so he can train more officers. Which is great in theory, but most of the police officers didn't care and didn't want to be there.

I'm thinking of writing a letter asking to evaluate the nessicity for trained CPSTs vs harnessing children whose parents simply can't afford a seat (i have my own opinions about parents who can't afford a car seat for their kiddos, but it's out there and opinions aside, their kids are unsafe!) I guess it boils down to realizing that the people in my CPST class didn't want to be there, they didn't pay for it; but here i am paying for it and wanting to be there. I just think the money is totally waisted forcing people to go to these classes that don't want to be there. On the other hand, I do realize it's not a car seat donation program, but at least these people are taking the initiative to have their seats checked, right?

Soooo take my poll please and debate away. I obviously have my own opinion on this matter, but I want to make sure that some people do see where i'm going with my train of theought. I don't want to ruffle any feathers but when I see money being "wasted" by training techs who won't ever do seat checks nor care about car seat safety, i really wonder if the money is being properly utilized

I feel that it does no good to have a lot of techs if parents can't or won't buy the appropriate seat. There is only so much we can do with what we have. There are a lot of parents out there that simply cannot buy seats that they need. Some parents can afford to buy them, but go to a store like Walmart and are overwhelmed, thus possibly buying something that may not work for them. It works well at checks to have those parents buy the seats we have on hand. Then we can teach them to install them correctly and they leave with a safe child. Here in Oregon, every check I have worked at has had Tourivas or Tributes, Cosco Highbacks, etc. There is at lease SOMETHING for most children.

ETA: When I took my tech class, at least half the class was there because they had to be. I have never seen 95% of them at any check and they are not listed anywhere I have seen. There is a waste of money. Training people who don't GET the importance of CPS.

I agree with Jacky! The first time I attempted the class there were 20+ students, I was the only one who chose to be there. Everyone else was there because they had to be.

This time was awesome. Even though everyone else had a job that gave them a "reason" to be there, they all genuinely WANTED to be there. It made a huge difference in the entire feel of the experience. I think most of these folks WILL make a difference in the community.

I voted for you to write a letter and try to make a difference.

I voted for you to write a letter and and try to make a difference. Here's a wild suggestion - ask them to offer a grant that interested people could apply for so that the course could be covered. Or maybe it should be one suggestion at a time.

The carseat action group in my home town waives the course fee for any techincian who attends 3 clinics a year or checks 10 seats in a year.. Very few concidering I attended 12 clinicsthe year I was certified and regularily check 10 seats per clinic!--Geez its one day a month!

Any way maybe they could do it based on # of seats checked if there are no organized clinics.

I agree with scatterbunny when I did my class everyone there was there by choice, I then assisted the instructor on a training some months after that for gov't workers who were told to be there.. It was very different the second time!

I personally think there should be techs working at every store that sells seats, including walmart. And while I think free carseats are good, I mean really who couldn't scrounge up $40 for a seat if the really HAD to. I think that's the problem with people, they don't want to make that sacrifice because honestly they don't care so why are we giving them new carseats that they're probably not going to use properly anyways. And it really makes me mad when I go to a garage sale and I see a really gross touriva from the health dept (and I know it is because they mark theirs on the back) and they're trying to get $20 bucks out of it. Now you know someone else is going to come along and pay that for it when they people who have it originally didn't even pay for it.

Both upstate NY places I've lived in this past year have rather large immigrant populations who cannot afford food/shelter/clothing/transportation let alone carseats -- they do however, get rides from people ... so it is imperative that they have carseats & are taught how to use them in various vehicles correctly.

The average annual income on the Reservation is less than $6,000 yet there's no public transit so families do have vehicles: free seats are also more important there. However, there isn't even 1 person on the Rez with more than 2 hours worth of CPS knowledge (via standard hostpial training video) who could adequately teach families WHY to use carseats, let alone HOW

The issue may depend on the area. Where I am, the Sherrif's station has ads on the radio so almost everyone is aware but too few can afford seats (while others still buy the most expensive & continue to misuse them terribly).

Simply put, you cannot have one without the other, but if you cannot find a happy medium them extra seats with a few truly dedicated techs is better than extra techs who could care less + no seats

I agree with papooses that it does depend on your area. Where I live is not a high income area but I doubt that there are that many people that really CAN"T afford a seat. But I know there are ALOT of people who have absolutely no idea how to use their seat or even what seat to buy and would buy and use the correct seat given the chance. We hardly ever have seat checks here and when we do it's normally a weekday And when I tell people to get in contact with a tech they have no idea what I"m talking about.

Well let me explain the economic situation here: A Mixing Bowl!!!

We have very weathly middle class who easily can afford their own seats (and then some), but we also have one of the poorest hispanic populations out here. The parents you cater to completely depends on where in our town you go. I can do a seat check in one side of town and be thankful that someone actually has their kid in a BPB, or i can go to the opposite side and drool over Britaxes and SafeSeats!

Our health department only gives out 3 point infant seats with no base. There are no other alternatives past an infant seat for our town to give out to economically challenged parents.

I totally agree that most parents COULD scrape 40.00 together to buy their kid a car seat. In the more "richer" areas of town, of course were not going to be handing out as many seats, i'm talking about getting more seats used in the lower economic areas here. It's so sad driving through a part of town and seeing like 5 kids boucing in the backseat. Then again, i'm pretty sure those parents wouldn't care about a "free" seat anyways.

But that being said, I'm more thinking about the kids who didn't ask to be improperly restrained in their parents car because the parents are too poor to afford one or just totally uneducated about car seats in general. Unfortuantely here, the parents lack of education is mixed in with some "In Mexico, we don't use car seats..." I felt like seriosuly saying "But you're not in Mexico anymore!!!" But I had to be all professional Oh and A-fricken-men about having techs at places that sell car seats. What a huge education opportunity for people buying seats!

I believe there is something to be said about the parents who actually seek out a seat check. I'm not saying we go into the commuity and just start handing out seats like they're candy, but I can't imagine a 2 year old coming into a seat check with only a seatbelt and leaving in a "booster" because it's all we have KWIM?

I personally notice a HHUUUUGEEE difference in people coming to seat checks to be educated vs the ones i educate in the hospital. Just last week alone, i discharged 4 moms who thought their infant seats needed to forward face and thought I was a crackhead for telling them differently. I just think there should be preference given to parents who actually take the time to come to a seat check not expecting a free seat, but leaving with one anyways because they realize how much safer their kid(s) will be.

I'm not a tech so I'm not sure how much this means, but. . .

I live in a metro area of nearly a million people and there is 1, yes 1 (!!!) CPST available for carseat checks. Unless of course they're all hiding, but seatcheck.org only pulls up one. When I was pregnant with DD I called to make an appt and it turns out the women was on maternity leave herself and the office just told me to call back in a few months.

So here I was, wanting to get my seat checked and I was basically told "sorry, no can do". Obviously, I think this city needs to have a ton more people certified! There's only a handful more CPSTs around the entire state.

And the state I live in (New Mexico), has a large percentage of people who simply cannot afford seats. But from my experience in talking with some of these people, giving them a seat is no guarantee that they'd use it, correctly or at all.

Surely it would be nice to have both: the ability to give out seats when there's a need and enough funding to allow for a lot of CPSTs. I think there's a balance, though. Surely a city doesn't need every police officer/firefighter/etc certified. But it does need some. So in my area, I definitely thinking funding needs to go first and foremost to getting more people certified. But once there's an "adequate" amount (however that can be defined), then money should be diverted into buying seats for those who cannot. Because in the end, I think what's the point of a hospital or police station giving out carseats if there's no one there to ensure that it's even installed correctly?

Some localities (like the ocunty in which I live) does have certified people, butthe locality is so afraid of liability (darn bean counters! ) that they choose to not allow it. Check the next locality over.

Niea said:

And the state I live in (New Mexico), has a large percentage of people who simply cannot afford seats. But from my experience in talking with some of these people, giving them a seat is no guarantee that they'd use it, correctly or at all

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Yep, same in SD -- brand new seats from the hospital often stay taped in box in the trunk.... Then again, the people giving them out are lucky to have merely watched a video on CPS (many whom grossly misuse their own seats *SIGH*) Again, training alone is not sufficient in these areas, but neither is a free seat program without proper training & awareness