Vent 1st experience w/seat check was a joke

[An Aurora]

I'm a tech, and I work at a hospital. My job is to check all the seats against the recall list, and then check the seats as the parents walk out. The nurses tell the parents to bring in the seats, because that's on their discharge list.

 

[tarynsmum]

One of the things I like about seat checks here is that no matter what every seat comes out every time.

That being said, my first seat check after becoming a tech. Us 'newbies' weren't allowed to do checks alone (lest we do something crazy, I don't know ). Giant SUV pulls up with uber-pregnant mama, preschooler in a Regent, and 6 year old in a Starriser booster. Mom wanted her infant seat put in (Companion that she wasn't super familiar with), but we're supposed to check every seat that comes in and have paperwork for. Problem was the Regent kid is PASSED OUT in the seat. Like bombs could go off and kid would still have been asleep. So the tech I was with kind of 'eyed it' and that was about it. I had NO IDEA what to say. Um, dude, you can't just eye it! The mom was super knowledgeable but it still didn't feel right. Only after a couple more cars did I realize how crappy he really was as a tech. :thumbsdown: Since my name & tech number was on the paperwork too I got yelled at for not taking the seat out and getting a reg. number.

The only thing I can think of is that he was trying to be 'cool' with you as the boss's daughter and was afraid to find something wrong (and make you look bad?) I don't know, I'm trying to figure out why eyeing a seat would be something he would see as a good idea.

 

[ketchupqueen]

See, I think that is great!

Even though they make you bring your convertible up to make sure the baby fits right in it?

 

[BW1426]

Our hospital will not discharge you without a proper child restraint.

A large hospital down state has been told by their attorneys that it is illegal for them to hold people against their will because they don't have a proper child restraint or don't want to use one period

 

[ketchupqueen]

Well, it is illegal for them to hold them against their will.

However, it's also perfectly legal for them to call the cops as soon as the parents get in the car with the baby improperly restrained.

 

[Connor's Mom]

Even though they make you bring your convertible up to make sure the baby fits right in it?

Why? Is is not easier for the tech just to have the parent drive the car up to the front of the hospital and go down with Mama when she is discharged? Demanding they bring in a clunky convertible just seems lazy on the tech's part to me unless that is the hospital's policy then it seems like it defeats the purpose of employing a tech since the install of the seat is just as importent as the fit of the child in the seat. :twocents:

Well, it is illegal for them to hold them against their will.

However, it's also perfectly legal for them to call the cops as soon as the parents get in the car with the baby improperly restrained.

:thumbsup:

 

[ketchupqueen]

The techs are all nurses in the nursery. They'd have to get another nurse to cover the nursery to meet their required ratios if they went down to check the seat in the car. They prefer not to.

They have you bring the seat and the baby to the nursery, they have a special table to check it out on.

 

[Connor's Mom]

A special table?
I would most likely refuse to bring my convertible in if it where me but then again most parents don't know any better.

 

[LISmama810]

Hospitals here have policies that you need to have a seat. I honestly don't know whether they make you bring them in or not. (We did with DS because we had an infant seat and it was easier to put him in in the room.)

However, just because it's hospital policy doesn't mean that you have to abide by it. Like others have said, they can't keep you against your will. As someone else mentioned, there's also nothing to keep hospital staff from calling the cops if you drive away without a seat.

If I had a convertible and my hospital were "forcing" me to bring it in, I'd explain that I'm a tech (or that I'm knowledgeable about car seats or whatever), and that they're more than welcome to go to my car and see that I have a seat. If they still insisted, I'd probably leave anyway. I felt pretty good after having my kid, but installing a convertible for a newborn in the hospital parking lot is not what I want to be doing a day or two after giving birth.

The hospitals around here don't have techs, except for NICU/special needs, etc., so there is no technician helping with installation, just a nurse checking to make sure there is a seat.