Child Passenger Safety
Why Do We Need Standardized Child Passenger Safety Training?
Every day children sustain serious injuries or die in motor vehicle crashes, and many of these injuries and deaths can be avoided with the correct use of safety seats and seat belts. However, many adults are unaware they are using the safety restraint incorrectly (or not at all), thereby placing their child at risk. In fact, child safety seat checkpoints routinely discover that eight out of ten children are not properly restrained in appropriate child safety seats or belt systems. Numerous compatibility problems between child safety seats and motor vehicles exist. We have an immediate need in this country for child passenger safety professionals who can explain these complicated issues in an understandable way and who can demonstrate safe and proper child passenger safety seat installation to the public.
What can be done?
Effective child passenger safety training is very important - not only in terms of providing technical information, but also in raising awareness of the importance of properly restraining our youngest and most precious travelers.
Saving lives and reducing injuries to children in motor vehicle crashes is the primary goal of the NHTSA Standardized Child Passenger Safety Training (CPS) Program. This program ensures that CPS professionals - those responsible for educating their communities on child passenger safety - have the finest possible training and the most up-to-date and accurate information available.
What is the NHTSA Standardized Child Passenger Safety Training Program?
It is the first national training program to address the needs of CPS professionals. It combines the best features of many existing training programs with additional contributions from many of the nation's leading CPS professionals. The CPS Training Program was developed in response to a need for quality control in course content and instructors to ensure that the information and material being taught and disseminated is up-to-date, accurate, and consistent.
The four-day course is taught through a combination of lectures, discussions of new issues, role playing and hands-on practice with both child safety seats and vehicle belt systems. Students should be prepared for the substantial physical activity needed to install safety seats. They will take both written and hands-on tests, and participate in a "real world" CPS clinic or child safety seat checkpoint, where students must demonstrate proficiency communicating and demonstrating proper installations to the public. This combination of instruction, demonstration skills development and testing is unique to this course.
Certification: How Do You Get It and Why?
Certification is available through the American Automobile Association for a $10.00 fee for those who have successfully completed the four-day standardized training course and the required field experience. Certification is offered at two levels: Technician and Technician Instructor. A technician can inspect and educate parents on the proper use of child safety seats, as well as conduct educational programs throughout their community. A Technician Instructor is able to teach the 32-hour standardized course, but certification at this level requires additional qualifications. The additional steps of certification and program information updates provide a level of quality control that validates the training and helps enhance the professionalism and reputation of the entire CPS field.
Which Level of Certification Is for You?
The most critical need right now is for CPS professionals to offer hands-on assistance to parents and caregivers through child safety seat clinics and checkpoints, prenatal and parenting classes, school demonstrations and daycare demonstrations, etc. If this is your primary area of expertise or you are most interested in interacting directly with the public, the level of Certified Technician would be appropriate. The course will expand your existing skills and increase your confidence, enabling you to better provide this valuable, lifesaving service to your community. The certification process will provide you with regular updates and document your active participation in the field.
If you desire to teach the standardized course to other technicians, you should consider the level of Certified Technician Instructor. The instruction, supervision and evaluation will help you hone your technical and teaching skills and help prepare you for instructional opportunities in your community.
What is the Cost?
The cost of certification is $10.00 per person per year, which includes periodic information and technology updates. Costs for the required four-day class are determined by the sponsoring organization. In some cases, course administration can be underwritten through a grant, which may reduce costs to individual students.
How Are the Classes Offered?
This course can be offered by any organization that uses Certified Technician Instructors, but the Automotive Safety Program, through Riley Hospital for Children, is responsible for coordinating the classes throughout Indiana. For further information on this course, or other Child Passenger Safety issues, please call 1-800-KID-N-CAR.
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