Vent I am quite frustrated! Why can't we find a tech in Montreal?

mamakaimon

New member
I am doing a field placement for school (internship type deal) at a CLSC in Montreal. I help out at the post natal group for families. One of the nurses asked me for my opinion on what topics should be covered and I suggested car seats. We work in an area of the city that has a dense immigrant population, many speak minimal French or English and most have very low incomes. I have seen soo soo much car seat misuse. Bulky snow suits, chest clips buckled but not crotch clips, car seats in the car, but sitting sideways on the seat (so obviously not installed at all, forget poorly installed).

So the nurse agrees that this is an excellent topic. She goes to the police department asking to have a technician come in and speak. They tell her`"we don't do that here" also tells her that the fire department doesn't either. Tells her they send people to some place on such and such street, but can't find the name of the place or the phone number to give her. Gives her a card for the saaq website. she's shocked. She's been a prenatal/post natal nurse for a long time and has always told clients to go to the police department or fire department to get their seats checked and installed.

So she's busy. I take the card and check the saaq website for where to find installation help. So it's CAA and SAAQ working together. There's a list of garages and baby stores that (according to them) have someone with "special training" who can verify seats. Oh and some of the garages may charge a fee to do so. So I'm browsing the list and what do I see? Police Departments. Including the one we went to where they said "nope. don't do that here"

I'm really frusrated that it's so hard to find help! I mean if it's this hard as professionals to get anywhere, imagine for others. No wonder there's so much misuse around here.

And you know what? One of the reasons I found this site way back when I had my daughter was because *I* was looking for help for my car seats. I never did find it. I read and learned and researched until I felt confident enough to do it myself. Not everyone is as determined as I am or as much of a perfectionist in making sure I do it right.

So we're calling around now. Trying to find someone qualified to come speak to our group.

Anyone on here in the Montreal area? or know of anyone in the Montreal area???
 
ADS

mommycat

Well-known member
Sorry for the frustration you are facing. And even more so for the people who can't figure it out on their own. :(

(Psst, maybe you should certify... ;) )

In my area we used to have a number of techs and used to have clinics but people have moved on and interest seems to have dwindled, so the options for the general public in my area are pretty limited. We do have a main hotline in Halifax though, so anyone can call there to get help, and they have info and videos on the website. But as far as getting a real live tech? The odds are not too good. I am surprised that I hardly ever get contacted locally, but partly it's lack of advertising that the service is available.

You could start by finding out who does the CPST training in your area and try to track down who might still be current in their cert or if there is someone. Call the CAA/SAAQ or see if any of the Canadian instructors on here might know who/where might be training in Quebec. :shrug:
 

chay

New member
You could try contacting the Ottawa techs and see if they might know someone that direction (or maybe even someone willing to travel). Maybe CAA would be willing to sponsor a course and get some techs certified in Montreal or some folks would be willing to travel to take the course in Ottawa and start something up.
http://www.seatsforkidscanada.com/home.html

Sorry you're having such a hard time.
 

mamakaimon

New member
Thanks!

I was actually thinking of calling CAA directly while the nurse calls around the gargaes and stores listed.

Chay Thanks for the link. I will definitely look into it. Contacting some Ottawa techs would be good, I just feel bad because I wouldn't even be able to offer to pay their transportation from there to here.

I have considered becoming certified. I just don't know if I have to time to take it on though (student mom here with two toddlers!). I really think I should at some point. The clientel I work with could really use the help and as it is I'm not allowed to help people install because of liability issues.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I'm from Montreal, and know exactly what you mean about. This province needs to do a better job of informing the public how to use car seats safely! In fact, I have been wanting to get myself certified and have been in touch with the folks in Ottawa because that's the only place I can get it done. Unfortunately to date, the clinics just haven't worked out for me. However, when I do get certified, if allowed, this is exactly what I want to do - offer my services as a speaker to CLSC pre-natal groups and if possible help with car seat checks. As I'm sure you know, it's not just the poorer neighbourhoods that need it. Even people putting their children in top of the line (read $$) seats, often don't have a clue how to use them safely!
 

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Think for a moment..

We have a national curriculum. This curriculum is in English only.. It's bound to happen that we see fewer technicians in non-English speaking areas.

It's actually something that has been under discussion--translating the current documentation. But if major manufacturers can't even get simple stickers translated without error, a whole curriculum is bound to be a major under-taking :)

-Nicole.
 

mamakaimon

New member
I understand what you're trying to say Nicole, but there's a lot of English in Montreal too and I can't find any English techs either.

It's not the fault of the techs. Just frustrating for those of us who could use their expertise!
 

BudgieStew

New member
Sign me up if you find a course offered in the Montreal area, preferably outside as I do not drive in Montreal.:eek:

When I was pregnant with DS I asked around and ended up finding a Police station in Verdun or maybe Lasalle(we lived in the Pte. at the time) that had a "tech". Honestly I do not know if he really was one or not but I believe if I recall correctly the information he gave us was sound.

And oh about two years ago I was driving by the local fire station/police station(we are in the Laurantians now) and they were holding a car seat clinic so I can only assume that there was in fact a tech there.
 

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Definitely frustrating.. Especially considering we're talking about an almost 100% cure to the #1 cause of death among children aged 1+...and, as a technician and instructor, in 8 years of doing this I've seen less than $1000 in my pocket, and well over $5000 spent. Yes, for me it is a hobby..and I know I've saved at least one child from a "bus ride" after a crash. That's payment in of itself, but in reality our provincial healthcare systems would benefit from funding programs.. in Quebec, and elsewhere..

An oz of prevention..

There are some options here, however.. If someone were dedicated enough to getting the information and presenting it in an appropriate manner to parents (after an edit by a tech), it could be almost as useful as having an actual tech present the information. I would be more than happy to provide my parent education outline to anyone who needs it--and I believe we have some techs that have developed their own parent classes here, as well. The down side would be that in any Q&A period, you'd be looking at telling parents "I don't know the answer to that, but I can find out" a lot..


-N.
 

Barbara Baines

CPST Instructor
I hear all of you! There are two instructor-trainers in Montreal. CAA and SAAQ don't really do anything, but these two try to plug away at it using the SJA course (they have even translated it). So, pm me and I'll give the contact info!.
 

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