He has viewed it. If everyone could post their very specific points as to what was incorrect, misleading, etc in the column that would be great. He feels that there is just a lot of :thumbsdown: here but no specifics. So let's be specific!
Good to know but I'll be honest to say that I started this thread as a 'vent' rather than an rebuttal or info-gathering sort of post to be useful to him or anyone. I didn't pre-face the thread by saying to stick to the article and provide useful facts. That's my error
My intention was to send a formulated response with what I would hope to influence both the author and Littlefield's views on a few things that have improved, changed, updated, etc.
He has also just informed me that this installation service consists of techs who are trained to do installs. After the install is done a TC official comes and inspects it. Can someone please confirm that this is correct/incorecct? I can not dream that TC, a government agency, would put their name and therefore their liability on the installation of any car seat. I am also not aware of a training program which will train a person to professionally install car seats. To my knowledge, training programs in Canada will train us to check seat installs, answer questions, problem solve and educate the parents on how to keep their child safe.
That might be the case in Kingston where there might be a unit with a volunteer who works for TC or it could be an isolated time where there was actually a visiting TC official. I don't know any particulars. But I know that it is not a requirement to have a TC official presented at a clinic to sign off any installation or inspection.
Here are what the roles and responsibilities of a CRST.
- to conduct/supervise specialized programs such as carseat clinics, recycle/loaner programs, selective Traffic Enforcement Program, where applicable
- to be a resource to his/her community
- to be able to: select and secure CRS correctly, organize and co-ordinate clinics, train volunteers to work at clinics, train people to work an info line, utilize the resources to review relevant info
- to stay up to date by being involved in clinics, visiting retail outlet to review new CRS models, to aware and able to check for recalls, visiting car dealerships to view new vehicle models and assessing how new features may affect the use of CRS, staying in touch with coalition (or CRS forums, groups) to receive updates, etc.
So yeah, it's more than just to install carseats. But there definitely are cases where installation would have to be done for the parent(s) like when a very pregnant mom shows up with kids in tow or when it actually would take the strength of 2 techs and all their tricks to get the seat installed safely for the ride home, etc. It depends on the unit and its policy but in general, we do encourage parents to be involved and be educated so he/she can make informed decisions and be able to help themselves. We don't turn anyone away be it check or install, kwim?