Question CPS Tech Questions

I am a 911 dispatcher and want to get certified as a CPS tech. It wasa goal of mine for years. I need to convince my Sheriff that it is a worthwhile investment to use our very megar training budget to send a dispatcher to the course.

I have several valid points, can you help me come up with some more?

1) In our +/- 2,000 square mile county, we have one CPST. She works in the north end of the county, which is at least an hour drive from the south end where I work. (it is also more populated, but I'm leaving that out of my arguement) We had one deputy certified, but she has not been certified in the 2.5 years I have been working here.

2) When I switched my son from his infant seat to a convertable, I had a heck of a time finding someone to check his seat. It was not until 3 or 4 internet searches on various websites that I found out we had one in the county. I ended up going an hour and a half away to get his seat checked.

3) I am in the office. 90% of the time, there is someone else in here that can dispatch and I can do a seat check. Very rarely is it so busy I would not be able to break away. The deputies never know what they will be doing and even if they made an appointment, they may get a call. I know most checks are done at events and such. Does anyone do checks by appointment or walk in at their place of business?

4) Finally, I really want to do this and have wanted to get certified for years. Never thought about doing it as a dispatcher until I got fustrated finding someone to check my own seat.

One of the main concerns of the Sheriff is the cost. He is afraid of spending money on seats to be given away. Is there grants or ways to get seats donated to give out? If I can get info on that, it will bolster my arguement.

Thank you in advance! Sorry so long!

911 Mommy said:

I am a 911 dispatcher and want to get certified as a CPS tech. It wasa goal of mine for years. I need to convince my Sheriff that it is a worthwhile investment to use our very megar training budget to send a dispatcher to the course.

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Congrats! Check into the cost. It cost me $60 to take mine.

3) I am in the office. 90% of the time, there is someone else in here that can dispatch and I can do a seat check. Very rarely is it so busy I would not be able to break away. The deputies never know what they will be doing and even if they made an appointment, they may get a call. I know most checks are done at events and such. Does anyone do checks by appointment or walk in at their place of business?

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90% of my checks are by appointment. I do public checks occasionally. I prefer appointments.

One of the main concerns of the Sheriff is the cost. He is afraid of spending money on seats to be given away. Is there grants or ways to get seats donated to give out? If I can get info on that, it will bolster my arguement.

Thank you in advance! Sorry so long!

Click to expand...

I don't spend money on seats to give away. You don't have to offer them. I paid $60 for my class, I spent some money on brochures and business cards. I bought a binder. I bought expired seats for props for presentations. You can do this spending nothing more than the money on the class and then some for paper for your paperwork.

Not all classes are only $60, some have fees on top of that, but check into it. Mine didn't.

Wendy

Whoo Hooo!! It was easier than I thought. I'm going to the class early next month. I am really excited about this class and have a lot of ideas to get the word out about PROPER use of car seats.

Congrats on getting into a class! :thumbsup: It's awesome to have another Oregonian on board with CPS!

I do them at the fire department I work for. It is appointment only. However, if we get a call we have to leave which kinda sucks. At least for you, you get to stay

We also have a very meager training budget. They could barely afford to send two of us. We therefore have NO money for seats etc. People sometimes do give donations to the fire department (we don't even bring it up, but won't refuse if they offer). That goes into a general car seat fund that buys our supplies like noodles, locking clips, shelf liner, paper for brochures, advertising etc. We are hoping to eventually get enough donations to have a couple spare convertible, combo, and booster seats but that hasn't happened yet

Congrats on getting into the class. You'll love it. It's a very fulfilling job!

The only thing I want to point out is that when you leave your tech class you will only have very basic training. You will need more training in the field with experienced techs before you start to fly solo. I have been a tech for 4yrs, senior checker for 2.5yrs & now an instructor for a year and I NEVER still to this day never do a check by myself. This just gives us checks and balances since I work for a hospital plus it covers our butt liability wise. Not saying you shouldn't/can't just saying get as much experience with an experienced tech before doing it alone. Trust me there will be times when even we experienced techs are stumped as what to do. I have had it happen to me before (vehicle with lap only belts & no headrests but all children were too big for harnessed seats).

If you’re doing to do them on county/state property you need to make sure your agency has the proper insurance and liability waiver drawn up. These are things you need to have squared away before doing checks at your work.

Also find out if there is a local Safe Kids coalition/chapter near you and join it once you become a tech. They will let you know of opportunities of CPS events where you can get a lot of good hands on training after your class. Plus they might also be into other areas of injury prevention (water, bike, pedestrian, hot cars, roll over’s, etc...) that might be good for you to get trained in to help better serve your community.