By Bridget Bartal
SLN staff
Certified child passenger safety technicians from all over Wisconsin recently hosted a child car seat check-up event at the Lake Geneva Fire Department, 730 Marshall St. As they mentioned, all car seats, even the best car seat for small cars, should be used with the right safety precautions to prevent unwanted and unintentional harm to kids.
The Aug. 21 event group was made up of 10 certified instructors and 36 volunteer technicians.
“This week there is a Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Traffic and Highway Safety. The event is happening at Grand Geneva, so we contacted the safety technicians through the fire department and set this up. This is the first time we’ve held an event like this in Lake Geneva,” Deputy Dan Nelson, of the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department, said.
Cars and families that arrive at the event go through an evaluation and education process, free of charge.
“First, if they have a car seat, we check it out and educate them about it. We often use demonstration baby dolls. Finally, we go on to show them how to properly install the seat in the car,” Wisconsin Children Passenger Safety Coordinator Nick Maniaci said.
For each car, a group of one instructor and five technicians helps the parents.
“Some parents already have kids and just haven’t gone through the child car seat process in a while, while others are younger, first-time parents. It really varies,” Maniaci said.
Families fill out a survey about their experience as they leave.
“Most of the time, parents indicate that they feel a lot more educated on how to properly and safely use their child’s car seats,” Maniaci said.
The instructors have travelled to Lake Geneva from Wisconsin locations including Steven’s Point, Appleton, Waukesha and Marshall Children’s Hospital.
“I got started in this because it was part of a job I used to do at the hospital. I work in a pediatric clinic,” instructor Tamara Shortess said.
The event offered resources and materials to give to parents, as well as drinks and snacks.
“With only 10 car seat technicians, and statistics showing that three out of four car seats are not used or installed incorrectly, we need this in our community,” Nelson said.
Information about future child safety events can be found at www.SafeKidsWI.org.
