• Announcements and Notices
• State Farm Insurance Expands Partnership
• Curriculum Peer Review
• National CPS Board Openings
• Koop Medal
• Program Reminders
• Customer Service Survey
• Recertification
• Upcoming Program Developments
• Just for Instructors
• Just for Fun
• CPS Resources
• Summer 2006 Tech Update
• NHTSA Ease of Use Ratings
• Share Your Knowledge!
• Written Test Scoring
• FAQ
• Contact Us

State Farm® Expands Support of National Certification Program

Safe Kids Worldwide and State Farm Insurance are pleased to announce a new three-year campaign to improve and promote the national certification program.

Safe Kids welcomed State Farm, its over 68,000 employees and over 17,000 agents, to the national network of people working to ensure safe transportation for child passengers as a program sponsor in the summer of 2005. 

State Farm’s funding provided the opportunity to completely overhaul the national certification program Web site, and initiated improvements such as the ability to change a password online, viewing instructor teaching hours and seat check review logs.

The new campaign, beginning July 1, 2006, will allow further improvements to the online system, including the ability to print a wallet card for proof of certification. Funding is also designated to promote the certification program and attract new technicians and instructors, particularly in underserved areas.

State Farm Insurance, established in 1922, has grown from a small farm mutual auto insurer to one of the world's largest financial institutions. State Farm has long been active in and supportive of CPS education and events, including their annual Child Safety Day.  One of their largest safety endeavors is the Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS) program.  PCPS is the first academic-corporate partnership devoted to the safety of children in motor vehicles. The program's methodology is unique, combining in-depth telephone interviews, on-site crash investigations and computational modeling with interdisciplinary analysis and interpretation.  PCPS' published data and educational materials have supported state and federal efforts to pass legislation to upgrade child occupant restraint laws.

Peer Review of Curriculum

The National CPS Board is delighted that 150 technicians and instructors have agreed to participate in the revised curriculum peer review.

"We were overwhelmed with the response," says Lorrie Walker, chair of the curriculum committee.  "We had no idea what to expect and are delighted that the curriculum went from zero reviewers to 150 in only a few days."  

About the reviewers:

• 84 instructors
• 66 technicians
• 36 states plus the District of Columbia

CPS Board Chair Pam Holt likes the diversity of the group.   “The CPS Board is pleased to collaborate with so many technicians and instructors from the field.  We were especially pleased that we have participation from law enforcement, fire departments, Head Start centers, insurance agencies, automobile manufacturers, health educators and nurses.  This collaboration will allow us to produce a high quality curriculum that is easy to teach and learn."

Stay informed about the latest progress of the revision by going to www.cpsboard.org/.

CPS Board Membership Application Process Opened for Available Positions

The membership committee of the National CPS Board has announced that the membership application process for the 2007 Board has been opened for four positions. Completed applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. CDT, Friday, July 28, 2006.

Four positions are open: 

• At Large - Candidate may apply as a representative of an organization or as an individual involved in child passenger safety. 
• Diversity - Candidate must be a representative of an organization that serves diverse populations.  
• Injury Prevention / Emergency Services - Candidate must be involved with coordinating injury prevention programs within the emergency services community, including, but not limited to, fire rescue, EMS and first responders. 
• National Nursing - Candidate must be a member of a nursing organization with national outreach. 

These positions serve three-year terms beginning January 1, 2007 and ending December 31, 2009.  Application and details available at http://www.cpsboard.org/.

Koop Medal of Distinction

Safe Kids Worldwide welcomes nominations for the C. Everett Koop, M.D., Medal of Distinction in Public Health and the Prevention of Unintentional Childhood Injury. The Koop Medal is the highest honor conferred by Safe Kids Worldwide and will be awarded to the individual who best exemplifies the spirit, the integrity and personal drive of C. Everett Koop, Chairman Emeritus of Safe Kids Worldwide and former Surgeon General of the United States, and who demonstrates a boundless passion for improving the health and safety of children.

Nominations will be accepted until July 31, 2006. Visit http://www.safekids.org/ for more information or to submit your nomination online.

CPS Customer Service Survey Available

Safe Kids is interested in your experiences with our CPS Customer Service by toll-free phone (877-366-8154) and cps.certification@safekids.org.  Please take a few minutes to complete the survey available on the certification Web site under Contact Us. 

Diana Leaving Safe Kids

Many of you have worked with Diana Reynoso, the CPS Certification project assistant over the last two years.  She has moved on to a new and exciting job in Alexandria, Va.  She has provided exceptional customer service and will be sorely missed.

Please help us through the transition by working with CPS Customer Service as much as possible before contacting Safe Kids Worldwide regarding certification matters.  The toll-free CPS Customer Service number is 877-366-8154 and the e-mail address is cps.certification@safekids.org.

As always, I remain available and appreciate your help and cooperation until the position is filled.  The position will be posted on the Safe Kids Worldwide Web site.

Kerry Chausmer, program manager
CPS Certification

Certification CD: Latest edition

All currently certified instructors and instructor candidates should have received a copy of the May 2004 CPS Certification course instructor CD.  Although it has not been revised since then, NHTSA sent this CD to ensure that all courses are taught using the most up-to-date CD available with all the slides and working video clips.  

Please discard any out-of-date CDs or course files.

If you did not receive one, please send a request for the 2004 CD to Kerry Chausmer. 

Are You A CPS Nerd? Test Your Knowledge!

This section of the newsletter highlights trivia and facts about child passenger safety. Please submit your ideas to Kerry Chausmer. Be sure to include how you would like your name to appear.

Which state was the first to require child safety seat use?
BONUS: What year?

Answer at the end of this newsletter.  

Summer Tech Update Now Available

Catch up on the latest in CPS from NHTSA by reading the Summer 2006 Tech Update. It is available, along with previous editions, on the National CPS Board's Web site.

Ease of Use Ratings Now Available

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released its annual child safety seat survey. The agency rated 99 model year 2006 child safety seats from 14 different manufacturers for ease of use. For additional information please visit http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ or call their public affairs office at 202-366-9550.

A copy of the 2006 ease-of-use ratings can be found at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/CSSRating/Index.cfm.

Ever wonder about how those CPS exam response “bubble sheets” generate a test score?  

Professional Examination Service (PES), a testing company in business for over 60 years, processes the exam sheets for Safe Kids Worldwide using stringent quality control standards.  When answer sheets come in to PES, they are first checked to make sure that there is a registration for each person named on each answer sheet.  If PES cannot find a registration, scoring for the individual and the class as a whole can be delayed for follow-up.  That is why it is so important to be sure that all CPS class participants have paid registrations. 

Answer sheets are then run through a state-of-the-art scanning machine.  This scanner can detect even faint stray marks that might undermine the choices that the candidate intended to make.  Any answer sheet with stray marks, or more than one response for an item, is kicked out and set aside for individual analysis.  So, if an instructor marks an answer sheet with a pencil, pen or highlighter when “correcting” an incorrect response, those answer sheets will be kicked out for review.  The result is a delay in scoring for individuals and whole classes, so please, don’t mark up these bubble sheets!  

The scanning machine produces an electronic report, which is then subject to other checks.  These other checks include analysis for anomalous response patterns and for scoring outliers.  Once the editing and checking is complete, exam scores are finalized.  This final score is very reliable.  PES has done many thousands of hand checks of scanned scores over the past 30 years, and has found no errors in the final scanned score. 

Submitted by Mary Browne, Professional Examination Services (New York, NY)

How can I offer CECH for nurses for taking the standardized
32-hour course?

In order for nurses attending a certification course to receive CECH, the lead instructor must register the course through the Emergency Nurses Association by completing and submitting one CPS Class Request Form for the course and a Instructor Biographical Data Form for each instructor at least two weeks before the course.

• Nursing CECH: Instructor Biographical Data Form - ver. 1/2006
• Nursing CECH: CPS Class Request Form - ver. 1/2006

Also available at www.safekids.org/certification/resources/forms.html. 

In 1978, Tennessee became the first atate to require child safety seat use.

Source: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_seat_belts.htm

Eagle Eyes -- Have We Missed Something?

Clarification: In a recent article about a safety seat checkup, there was a statement about the father not removing the seat.  This was about the activities during the event after it was installed with the technician.  This is not stating that he did not remove the seat for the next 2 years. 

As always, your feedback and submissions are appreciated.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Safe Kids Worldwide
CPS Certification
1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20004

Phone: 877-366-8154 (toll free)
Fax: 202-393-2072
cps.certification@safekids.org