Blog: Teaching Child Passenger Safety in the UAE
Posted by:
Lorrie Walker
at Dec 13, 2011 12:00 AM CST
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Education
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Kerry Chausmer, Alexis Kagiliery and I are in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates teaching a child passenger safety certification course to a group of 15 child advocates. Some work in health districts or schools as nurses and administrators, others are police officers, one is a physician, a general nurse, a retailer and a driving school owner who certifies all drivers in Abu Dhabi. One couple drives 2 hours each way, each day justto take the course.
The class stops twice for prayer breaks as Muslims are called to pray 5 times per day and two of those times come during the class period. As in all our classes at home, students worry about the test and tease each other about what will happen if they fail. They are eager to learn and seem to enjoy the course as we have just finished day one. It is an interesting way to teach the course as they typically use the metric system (do you remember how often we talk about weight times speed or infant weights in pounds not kilograms?) Although they do not have access to American products, they are being tested on the products; on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administartion (NHTSA); and on recall lists they will never use.
You have to hand it to them, they are eager to succeed and we wish it for them. It all reminds me of the time when the US had no certified technicians and dedicated advocates did what they could in their own arenas. There was a small core (Dr. Sanders, Annemarie Shelness, Deborah Stewart, Bill Hall, Dr. Bull, Cheryl Neverman, Elaine Weinstein and Stephanie Tombrello) who pioneered the field of child passenger safety. Today, the UAE is where we were way back then and they want to save lives by incorporating our system of certification into their culture. They do not want to reinvent the wheel as children are at risk here for a road traffic injury in great numbers.
We want the best for them as they struggle to pass a CPS law, bring child safety to the forefront for preventable injuries and bring parents to the table. English is not the first language of anyone at the table and during the test when we had encouraged them to ask a question if they did not understand the terminology, a police officer remarked about how he had a difficult time answering a test question that encouraged an older lady to buckle up or risk death by being thrown from the car. He felt the wording was impolite and he would never be able to threaten death to someone who did not believe as he did.
Teaching a course like this really makes you stop and think about not only what we say but how we say it. I am grateful for this opportunity to work with 2 great instructors and meet so many caring, dedicated advocates almost 8,000 miles from home.
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