New heading on the CPS Certification Web site: Recertification 07. 

• Announcements and Notices
• Recertification 2007 Update
• Program Reminders
• Recertification 2006
• Recertification 2007
• Customer Service Survey
• Upcoming Program Developments
• FAQs: What would you like to see added?
• Just for Instructors
• New online features
• CEU Corner
• CEU session online calendar
• Just for Fun
• CPS Resources
• NHTSA's Four Steps Updated
• CHOP Fact and Trend Report
• Share Your Knowledge!
• Miller YouTube Video: Reminders for Technicians from Safe Kids Worldwide
• FAQ
• Do I have to log in to search for a course?
• Contact Us  

2006 Recertification Reminder  

What are some recertification FAQs you would like to see?  Let us know!

Frequently Asked Questions: Click on the question to get the answer.

• What is a CEU?
• My certification expiration date is in the beginning of 2007.  I won’t have the CEUs needed in time.  What are my options?
• What if the CPS technical session I attend is only 50 minutes?
• Why don’t check up events count toward CEUs?
• Can a workshop I attended last year count?
• What if I go to a retailer with another tech and look at the new seats?
• What are some acceptable and unacceptable CPS CEU content?

Recertification tips available at www.safekids.org/certification:

Recertification 2007 Flow Chart

Personal Recertification Log

Latest Program Upgrades - as requested!

• Course administrators and lead instructors can export their course rosters to Excel.
• Instructors now have an archive for reviewed seat checks for people whose recertification has been completed or whose certifications have expired.
• Lead instructors now get an email when their course is finalized.
• Updated form (optional): Log for CPS Observing a Certification or Renewal Course (LEAD INSTRUCTOR)

This section of the newsletter will share available national CEU opportunities.  We are not able to include information on state or local conferences, training or other technical updates. 

This information is provided as  resource only.  Events and activities listed here are not endorsed by Safe Kids Worldwide unless otherwise noted.

SUBMISSIONS: Please email the required information (below) to Kerry Chausmer.  We are especially interested in any online offerings.

 

Second posting:
Nationwide Continuing Education Web Page

Child Passenger Safety Team Colorado is very pleased to announce the availability of the Nationwide Continuing Education Web Page. The calendar is accessible and available to anyone interested in viewing and/or posting continuing education activities.

CPS Team Colorado has been a very strong advocate of supporting nationally certified technicians and instructors with accessible continuing education.  With the understanding that the CPS field is so rapidly changing in technology, direction and concepts but most of our daily obligations significantly limit the amount of time available to keep up with the never-ending changes, our state CPS Program is very pleased to offer an “Internet hub” where technicians and instructors can find locations close to home and nationwide to network, further their knowledge and hone their skills.  

To access the calendar:

1. http://www.carseatscolorado.com/
2. Click on “Training Opportunities”
3. Click on “Continuing Education for Certified Technicians"
4. On the drop down menu, please select “CEU Sessions Nationwide Listing”

To submit CEU Sessions for posting to the calendar, e-mail your request to vfullaway@comcast.net. 

Your request must include:

1. Contact Name
2. Contact Telephone Number
3. Contact Email Address
4. Session Location (including name of hosting agency/organization; street address, city, state, and zip code of venue; for teleconferences, location where the teleconference will originate)
5. Cost to participants
6. Session Type (workshop, class, conference, teleconference, etc.)
7. How many hours of CEUs will be awarded to each participant
8. Safe Kids Pre-Approval Number
9. How to register for session
10. Date(s) and Times (beginning and ending times) of Session (multiple dates and times may be submitted for sessions held at the same location; for sessions at different locations, please submit separate listings)
11. [OPTIONAL] Additional information and/or comments
    

Facilitator/provider: NHTSA
Topic: To be announced
Format: Conference calls
Date/Time: To be determined
Fees/Requirements: None
For more information:  To be announced

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.

As of July 2006, how many states have booster seat laws?

Submitted by Tanya Chin Ross, Safe Kids Worldwide (Washington, DC)

What percent of crashes occur on roads with posted speed limits of
45-64 mph?  HINT: These crashes account for the highest risk of injury.

Submitted by Tracey Hewitt, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pa.).  

Answers at the end of this newsletter.   
 

NHTSA's Four Steps Updated

NHTSA recently convened an internal working group to review and make adjustments to the agency’s 4 Steps for Kids consumer information.  To complete the process, the adjustments were circulated throughout the agency for review, and were given final approval.  Revisions included language additions to clarify transitions between seat types and address restraint use during pregnancy, while maintaining a 4 steps format.  The new language will serve as the basis for all future consumer information, with current consumer pieces being updated to reflect the changes.  Language in the updated CPS curriculum will also be changed to include the revisions. 

4 Steps for Kids

When you’re an expectant mother, it’s important to always wear your safety belt to protect you and your unborn child.  Wear the lap belt across your hips and below your belly with the shoulder belt across your chest (between your breasts).  Once your baby is born, follow these important safety steps:

Step 1:  For the best possible protection keep babies in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat.  At a minimum, keep babies rear-facing until a minimum of age 1 and at least 20 pounds.

Step 2:  When children outgrow their rear-facing seats (at a minimum age 1 and at least 20 pounds) they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds).

Step 3: Once children outgrow their forward-facing seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds), they should ride in booster seats, in the back seat, until the vehicle safety belts fit properly.  Safety belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall).

Step 4:  When children outgrow their booster seats, (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall) they can use the adult safety belt in the back seat, if it fits properly (lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt across the chest).

Additional information is available at http://www.nhtsa.gov/.

CHOP Fact and Trend Report Out Now

State Farm^® and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia^® released the second Partners for Child Passenger Safety Fact and Trend Report from the world’s largest study of children in automobile crashes.  As children age. their risk of injury or death in a motor vehicle crash significantly increases due to improper child restraint use.  Key factors for this increased risk are moving children from child restraints to adult seat belts and then to the front seat prematurely.    

The report found that 46 percent of children ages 4-8 were improperly restrained in adult seat belts, making them three times more likely to be injured in a crash than younger infants and toddlers.  

“There is a crucial step many parents are missing: Kids need to use a booster seat from around age 4 until they’re 4’9”, said Kristy Arbogast, Ph.D., director of field engineering, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  “As children get older, their risk of being injured in a crash increases, primarily because they’re being moved from the protection of child seats with harnesses, directly into adult seat belts, and into the front seat.  All children need to be seated in the back seat until age 13.” 

For children under the age of 8 years, following the guidelines for age- and size-appropriate restraint can reduce the risk of serious injury in a vehicle crash to less than 1 percent.  State Farm and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia urge parents to be diligent when it comes to their children’s safety every ride, every time.

Top findings of the report include:

• Child restraint use - 1999 vs. 2005:  Overall, Americans have significantly improved child restraint use among children over age eight from 51 percent in 1999 to 73 percent in 2005. 
• Booster seat law success:  The study found that states with comprehensive booster seat laws reported the most progress in increasing child restraint use through 8 years of age.  The three states with the highest rate of booster seat use among 4- to 8-year olds have implemented child passenger safety laws that require all children under the age of 8 to ride in a child safety seat or booster seat.
• Age of driver:  Although only 7.4 percent of crashes involving children occur with teen drivers (ages 16-19), children driven by teens were 3.5 times more likely to be injured than those driven by people older than 20.
• Speed limits:  Vehicle crashes with the highest number of significant injuries occur on roads with posted speed limits of 45-64 mph.
• Distance:  The majority of crashes involving children occur within 10 minutes of home.

For more information on the risks to child passengers and how to properly restrain children in motor vehicles, please visit www.chop.edu/carseat and click on “In the News” for information relevant to the report.  

For more information on the risks to child passengers and how to properly restrain children in motor vehicles, visit www.statefarm.com/KidSafety.htm.

Submitted by Tracey Hewitt, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)

Miller Family video on YouTube - Reminders for Technicians from Safe Kids Worldwide

An amateur video called “Importance of a 5-Point Harness Carseat” was posted to YouTube on Nov. 2 and has reached more than a million viewers so far. The mother reports in this very moving story that her 3-year-old son Kyle was killed while riding in his booster seat when the safety belt came unlatched in a rollover crash. Kyle’s family urges parents and caregivers to use a forward-facing car seat with a higher weight harness (the video mentions the Britax Regent) with LATCH and they discourage use of safety belts with child restraints. Keep in mind, however, the weight limit for lower anchors and tethers in the LATCH system is 48 pounds. Any child restraint system for a child who weighs more than 48 pounds must be secured with a seatbelt. If you or your technicians get questions from the public in response to this video, please remind them of these limits and remember that safety belts are tested to rigorous standards to make sure they can secure much heavier adults.

We have no information about the safety belt in this family’s car or the way it was used at the time of the incident. We do know that safety belt failure is extremely rare. We also know that Kyle’s sister, who was seated next to Kyle and was secured in an identical booster seat using the safety belt, survived the crash with no serious injuries. Kyle was over 40 pounds and was using a booster seat because he had outgrown the weight limit on his forward-facing car seat.

We contacted Steve Wallen, a spokesperson for SafeGuard, the child restraints division of IMMI. This is the only U.S. company that makes both safety belts and car seats. Steve says: “We do not know the actual vehicle or belt system but in general it would be extremely rare for a safety belt to release in a crash. It does make a case for higher weight limits for lower anchors and tethers, and parents and advocates can lobby vehicle manufacturers to increase capacity. My biggest fear is that parents will be afraid of and stop using seat belts. Seat belts have a 40-year track record with great success and must be used for the higher weight child.”

Bottom line: Anyone using any child restraint system needs to read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions, as well as any applicable guidelines and warnings in the vehicle owner’s manual. A child who weighs more than 48 pounds is safest in an appropriate child restraint system secured with the safety belt or as directed by the vehicle and CR manufacturer. Refer parents to www.usa.safekids.org/skbu, or to your own inspection station or CPS technicians, for more information.

Do I have to log in to search for a course?

People searching for an available CPS certification course no longer have to log in and register with Safe Kids.  Once a course is picked, users will have to log in to register for the course. 

As of July 2006, 39 states (and the District of Columbia) have booster seat laws. Click here for a map.

Submitted by Tanya Chin Ross, Safe Kids Worldwide (Washington, DC)

22 percent of crashes occur on roads with posted speed limits of
45-64 mph.

Submitted by Tracey Hewitt, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pa.).  

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