Teaching installation and use of child passenger safety restraints

All newborns discharged from hospitals should be transported home in infant car safety seats that are designed appropriately to safely transport healthy newborns, premature infants, or infants with special needs. Assuring that newborns are restrained properly when riding for the first time sets the stage for continued compliance with a measure that can save their lives or prevent serious injury. Correctly used infant/child safety seats are 71% effective in preventing fatalities due to car crashes, and 67% effective in preventing injury requiring hospitalization.1 With 100% correct use, about 53 000 injuries and 500 deaths could be prevented each year in the United States among children from birth to 4 years of age.2 Although the Every Ride, Safe Ride program of the American Academy of Pediatrics has made major contributions to child passenger safety, including the passage of legislation in all 50 states requiring infants and children to ride properly restrained, newborns continue to be discharged from hospitals without infant car safety seats or in ones that are not being used correctly. A recent study of hospital discharge policies and procedures has shown that only 26% of hospitals with obstetric services have a policy concerning the discharge of newborns in car safety seats. Of those hospitals that have a policy, 64% waive the requirement that newborns be discharged in a car safety seat if the parents do not supply a seat upon discharge.3 A similar study of hospitals accounting for 90% of annual births in Michigan showed that only 24% of hospitals discuss the use of car safety seats with parents, and only 4% demonstrate their use.4

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37 Safety in seconds 2.0: a smartphone app to improve child passenger safety behaviours

10.1136/injuryprev-2017-042560.37 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Elise Omaki ◽

Eileen McDonald ◽

Wendy Shields ◽

Mary Aitken ◽

David Bishai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Smartphone App ◽

Child Passenger Safety ◽

Passenger Safety

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Child passenger safety: potential impact of the Washington State booster seat law on childcare centers

Injury Prevention ◽

10.1136/ip.8.4.284 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 284-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

B A Chang

Keyword(s):

Washington State ◽

Childcare Centers ◽

Child Passenger Safety ◽

Booster Seat ◽

Passenger Safety ◽

Potential Impact

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Parent Experiences and Perceptions of Safety When Transporting Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

American Journal of Occupational Therapy ◽

10.5014/ajot.2021.041749 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 75 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Teresa Plummer ◽

Missy Bryan ◽

Katherine Dullaghan ◽

Abigail Harris ◽

Michaela Isenberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Motor Vehicle ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Care Needs ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Child Passenger Safety ◽

Behavioral Safety ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Passenger Safety

Importance: Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of unintentional deaths of children ages 1 and older, particularly children with health care needs. Objective: To explore family caregivers’ experiences and current practices while transporting children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Design: A concurrent nested mixed-methods approach was used to gain insight into caregiver experiences. Setting: Participants completed an online Qualtrics survey. Participants: A convenience sample of 54 caregivers of children with ASD from 17 U.S. states. Results: Themes that emerged include sensory behaviors of children, education related to child passenger safety, and participation in the community. Statistically significant findings suggest a correlation between caregivers (n = 39) being less likely to participate in activities away from home if the child had attempted to elope (p = .013), displayed aggressive behaviors (p = .005), or demonstrated self-injurious behaviors (p = .001). Conclusions and Relevance: The findings suggest a correlation between caregivers limiting the distance traveled during vehicular transportation and behavioral safety concerns. If caregivers must limit travel, they may refrain from accessing the community and engaging in leisure pursuits. What This Article Adds: The findings suggest that therapists who treat children with ASD should be familiar with child passenger safety restraints, particularly for elopement.

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