I got certified, now what?

I am just wondering what I do now. My instructor put us on a list to be called for the next check event, but I don't think that is until June. So what do I do now? I was thinking I should gather all the materials I need, like locking clips, pool noodles, check lists and such. Do i need to do that or will those things be provided at events? Can I do anything else, like offer to help at the local police station or something?

I googled to find all the car seat checks that I can reasonably get to. There are none in my area, but there's one most every month that I can reasonably get to. I plan to go to as many as I can. I also printed up a list of seat check events and am in the process of distributing them to be displayed for parents.

A lot of it depends on what you WANT to do. If you're not going to do private checks for a while, you don't need your own forms, and pool noodles and locking clips will be provided at many (but not all) checks, depending on who is running them. Ditto recall lists.

You might want to get a pen that hangs around your neck (I'm ALWAYS losing my pens) and a LATCH Manual if you don't have it, though.

I do definitely want a LATCH manual. I keep like 3 pens in my purse lol.
My original plan was to make flyers to hang up around my apartment complex so people would get their seats checked. It's an every day thing to see a car with some kind of misuse. The most recent being a scenera installed FF through the RF beltpath, and an infant seat somehow top tethered. I think they just routed one of the LATCH hooks up to the top anchor.

There are more though and I really wanted to help people here, but it was advised against in the class to do private checks right away.
I also wanted to go to the police department and the hospital and see if they needed a tech, and I wanted to get something set up so I could do a PTA meeting or something at DD's school about CPS.
I also have a local mom's group that wanted to do a get together so everyone could get their seats checked, but I don't know if I should do that or not.
I'm confident in my abilities, but if something unusual came up, I might not have the right stuff, like locking clips or possibly a belt shortening clip (they told us we would virtually never need one, but it could happen.)
I don't think I'd be able to get to the nearest check event, I think there is a once a month thing in this town a few hours away, and I wouldn't be able to get there. I'll have to check again though just to make sure.

Most people here would advise against doing private checks until you have more experience.

Definitely look for any opportunities to volunteer with other techs.

Doing presentations (school groups, moms clubs, etc.) is a great way to educate people.

Have you registered for tech forum access here yet? I guess you have to wait for your number. I wonder how far you are from me.... hmm... not much goes on in my part of the state, like it's a bustling year with 3 events planned in the next six months, kind of thing.

LISmama810 said:

Most people here would advise against doing private checks until you have more experience.

Definitely look for any opportunities to volunteer with other techs.

Doing presentations (school groups, moms clubs, etc.) is a great way to educate people.

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So it would be ok to do a presentation? That's good because I was afraid it would be in the same boat as not doing private checks. Good to know!
How would I go about doing a meeting for the school? I was hoping someone else could go with me to help out, but I don't know who I could find to do that.


ETA: No I have not registered for the tech forum. I didn't know how :/ lol
Which number do I need? I have this from Safe Kids, T688903, but I wasn't sure if that was my number or not.

joolsplus3 said:

Have you registered for tech forum access here yet? I guess you have to wait for your number. I wonder how far you are from me.... hmm... not much goes on in my part of the state, like it's a bustling year with 3 events planned in the next six months, kind of thing.

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According to mapquest we are 2 hours apart. I think I could pull that off if I went to just one event, but it would have to be on one of DH's days off and such since he can't take more leave.

So if I volunteered at the police station or hospital, that counts as private checks, right?
What about if I just did checks for family and friends? I didn't know if that would fit in the same as if it were strangers.

I'm just bumping this up real quick because I have another question. I'm not sure what my tech number is or where to find it. I tried logging into Safe Kids with the number they gave me as a username and now it doesnt work anymore. I did see a thing before where it showed my print off thing and the number was T688903. Is that it? Also I don't know how to get my green name on here.

That is you tech number. I ended up called Safe Kids to figure out how the get in.


Under User CP here, go to Edit you details (under your profile). All the way at the bottom type in your name and tech #. Pretty sure you need to PM Admin also.