• Announcements and Notices
• Reservation Request Process Changed by Popular Demand
• Program Reminders
• CPS Customer Service Survey
• Re-certification Reminder
• Upcoming Program Developments
• Keeping Up With the Curriculum Revision Process
• Just for Instructors
• Registration Required for Retake Courses
• Just for Fun

• CPS Resources
• CPS Survivor Utah
• Share Your Knowledge!
• Child Safety Seat Saves Another Life
• FAQ

• Contact Us

Reservation Request Process Changed by Popular Demand

In response to many requests, the reservation request process for controlled courses has been updated:

1. The lead instructor for a course will be notified by e-mail when a potential student requests approval to attend a controlled course. (Lead Instructors, please also check your reservation requests regularly to make sure they arenot blocked by spam filters.) We will not be sending a similar e-mail messages to course administrators.
   
2. There will no longer be automatic approval for a reservation request after five days.  Potential students can only get into the course when the lead instructor or course administrator approves it.

Please continue to share your suggestions and requests with Safe Kids.

NOTE: Updated Policies and Procedures are available online under Resources.

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. 

Keeping up with the Curriculum Revision Process

To stay updated on the latest progress on the CPS Certification curriculum, sign up for the National CPS Board automated emails at http://www.cpsboard.org/ and check the link "Curriculum Update" regularly.

Retake Course Registration Reminder

Please be sure all students are registered for retake courses.  They should appear on your course roster.  Although any certified instructor may offer a retake course, the lead instructor for the original certification course must register them by clicking on the VIEW FAILED TECHNICIAN CANDIDATES action item and selecting an available course. Any retake courses offered by that lead will appear first on the list.  Failure to do so will result in a delay in processing the exam. 

Before offering the retake, double check to be sure your roster is accurate and the retake course ID is the one included on the answer sheet. 

NOTE: Retake course tips available in the December 1, 2005 CPS Express under Just for Instructors. 

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.

In what year were air bags first offered as an option in
American vehicles?
Submitted by Jody Jordet (Dilworth, Minn.)

In what year was the first child car seat invented?

** Answers at the end of this newsletter **

CPS Survivor Utah

Living through the rigors as a Child Passenger Safety Technician sometimes feels like competing on Survivor. In Utah, 123 technicians recently lived through a Survivor experience at the Utah CPS Conference.

Coming together as a state team to collaborate, learn and celebrate, Utah technicians were challenged and rewarded as they competed in Survivor events. Team spirit, sharing, camaraderie and just plain fun made this a great way to cultivate and retain technicians.

Everyone was given a bandana — one of six colors to identify six competing tribes. The fist event was a team poster activity. Each tribe started with a poster board, markers and a few miscellaneous supplies. The assignment was to give the tribe a name and create a poster and short skit to introduce the tribe. The posters were judged and prizes (coconuts) given based on creativity, artistic design, humor and relevance of the theme. This activity got the group excited and ready for more.

The second activity was conducted during lunch. It was an endurance challenge called the “Last Man Standing” — the object was to remain standing on your own one-gallon can of rice, without falling off, longer than anyone else. Participants were instructed to line up close enough to each other to hold hands. Each person had to stand on their can and hold hands with those on either side. After two minutes, the participants were asked to let go of each other’s hands and continue standing on their cans. After two more minutes, those remaining had to stand on one foot on top of the can. The last one standing was the “Survivor.”

As we explained to the participants, see,

at first you had the support of friends, just as in CPS services — you can link to other experts (such as manufacturers and instructors) through CPS knowledge and manuals. When you break that support, you are on your own and become blinded to new technology and updated information. Then you have only one source of information — yourself —standing on one leg. You will fall!

The final activity of the conference was the Survivor Skills Relay. Each tribe was instructed to compete in pairs, with one pair from each tribe remaining at the car seat installation demo chair while the rest of the tribe competes at the opposite end of the room.

The first pair is given an envelope with a child safety seat scenario. They read the scenario and must select a CRS from the pile in the middle of the room and install it correctly on the demo chair. After the judge approves the installation, the two team members remaining at demo chair can remove the seat and the next pair gets a new scenario.

The first team to complete all scenarios correctly wins.

The scenario cards were each accompanied by an answer sheet for the judges so they would know what to look for.

Prizes were given to tribes and team members. It was a great activity and a meaningful review for all technicians. The guest speakers  from the conference — Lorrie Walker of Safe Kids Worldwide, Artie Martin of General Motor and David Galambos of Graco — were the judges for the competitions.

They helped add a combination of classroom learning and hands-on experiences that left attendees well-fed and excited to go back into the real world with an “I Will Survive” attitude.

Submitted by Janet Brooks, Primary Children's Medical Center and Safe Kids Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Child Safety Seat Saves Another Life

By Jarrod Bunyard, California Highway Patrol

On October 27, 2005, at 0946 hours, I was walking back to my patrol car after issuing a citation.  I looked up just in time to see a Jeep Cherokee pull out into the path of a Chevy Corsica that was traveling around 65 mph. The Corsica broadsided the Jeep sending debris flying and both cars spinning across the highway.

I ran to my car, radioed in the wreck and drove 150 yards to the collision scene.  I cut the seat belt of the driver of the Corsica then ran around to see the unrestrained rear passenger lying on the ground.  After checking his injuries I saw the right front passenger unconscious.  I extricated her from the car and began CPR, but she passed away at the scene.        

Then I noticed the driver of the jeep was holding a small child in his arms.  By this time the ambulances were on scene and were attending to the man and his child.  Both were rushed to a trauma center.  

Later, while interviewing the father, I found out that his daughter had been in the right rear seat of the Jeep, directly at the point of impact.  She was properly restrained in a Century convertible car seat.  As a result, she sustained no injuries despite the intrusion from the wreck actually contacting the car seat!  

The father credited her safety to the car seat and participating in a CHP car seat inspection just before she was born.  He indicated that he had come to the office and the technician installed the car seat with him.  He was so concerned for his child's safety, that he never removed the seat, but did tell me that he would check it weekly to make sure it was still installed correctly.

While talking with him I couldn't shake the feeling that I had met him before.  Finally, I figured it out; I was the technician that installed the seat nearly two years prior.  While no one likes investigating a fatal traffic collision, at least I was able to walk away from this one with some good feelings.  Car seats definitely save lives!

Submitted by Rebecca Michalkiewicz, California Highway Patrol (Sacramento, Calif.)
Reprint from CHP CPS Newsletter, Vol 1, Issue 9, January 2006 

How can I see if I am a senior checker? (edited Aug. 3, 2005)

Senior Checker designation is not a component of the CPS certification program administered by Safe Kids. A separate CPS-related Safe Kids program, Safe Kids Buckle Up, reviews and assigns Senior Checker numbers specifically for that program.

If you are interested in working with Safe Kids as a Senior Checker, please contact your local Safe Kids coalition or Marcela Tozzini with Safe Kids Buckle Up.

In what year were air bags first offered as an option in
American vehicles?
In 1974 GM became the first automaker to develop and offer
air bags in production vehicles. They offered dual air-bag-equipped Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles and Buicks.

Source: http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.stnonline.com/stn/occupantrestraint/seatbelthistory/)

Submitted by Jody Jordet (Dilworth, Minn.)

In what year was the first child car seat invented?
The first child car seats were invented in 1921.  However, they were very different from modern car seats. The earliest versions were essentially sacks with drawstring attached to the back seat.

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

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