Save The Dates!

Buckle Up America!

Awards Ceremony

Macon, GA

July 13 at 10:00 a.m.

CPST Instructor

Development

Conyers, GA

July 19-20

Kids in Motion (KIM)

Conference

Orlando, Florida

August 10-13

How Side Air Bags Protect

Children in Crashes and Best

Practice Recommendations

for Caregivers

2

The Olli Latching

Booster Seat 2

The Doona Infant Car

Seat 3

The Advanced Sensor-

Safe™ Embrace™ DLX

Car Seat 3

Inside This Issue

Volume XI

Issue 1I

June 2016 Tech TalkNHTSA Attends Local CPST Training in Macon, GA By: Amanda Burnside, MPH, CPST

The Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention

Institute (GTIPI) recently offered a

Child Passenger Safety Technician

(CPST) Training in Macon, GA. The

training was held June 14-16, 2016

and was hosted by Navicent Health,

formerly known as the Medical Center

of Central Georgia. The 17 students

enrolled in the course represented a

diverse group of organizations includ-

ing the National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA).

NHTSA is the federal source of fund-

ing for the Governor's Office of High-

way Safety which awards grants that

support GTIPI in its efforts to certify

CPSTs throughout the State of Geor-

gia and provide other traffic safety

education training and programs.

The Macon CPST class participants and instructors.

Mr. Alex Cabral, Deputy Administrator

for NHTSA Region 4, was in attendance

along with his intern, Ms. Ashley

Mendez-Heavilin. Ms. Mendez-

Heavilin is a rising senior at the Univer-

sity of Puerto Rico, where she is major-

ing in sociology. She will complete the

first portion of her internship at

NHTSA's regional office in Atlanta and

then complete the second phase of her

internship at NHTSA's headquarters in

Washington, D.C. Ms. Mendez-Heavilin

plans to use her CPST certification to

educate and empower communities in

Puerto Rico.

Alex Cabral, Ashley Mendez-Heavilin, and the CPST instructional team at the car seat check event in

Macon.

PAGE 2 JUNE 2016

How Side Air Bags Protect Children in Crashes and Best Practice

Recommendations for Caregivers By: Hilda Fields, MEd, CPST-I

Side air bags are designed to protect individuals from

side impact crashes and rollovers. Over the years, air

bag designers have been working hard to increase air

bag safety. Despite their hard work, caregivers still

need to understand the correct way that air bags work

and how to decrease the likelihood that their child is

seriously injured or killed in a car crash. Here are

some simple reminders to pass along to caregivers

about air bags:

1. When used correctly, air bags help reduce the

force that occurs during a crash. Seat belts and air

bags help “ride down the crash”.

2. The safest place for a child under 13 is the rear

seat. If a child sits in the front seat and makes con-

tact with a frontal air bag, the consequences can be

very serious. If the only option for travel is to sit

in the front seat, make sure the seat is as far away

from the air bag as possible and be properly re-

strained in a car seat or seat belt.

3. Teach children not to lean against the door. For

vehicles that have side air bags in the seat, lean-

ing against the door can be harmful to children if

the air bag deploys.

4. Always visit the vehicle owner’s manual and car

seat instruction booklet to determine safe seating

positions for children in car seats

5. Advanced air bags have been tested for adult

occupants. Manufacturers still do not know how

advanced air bags impact children. Hence, a

child should remain in the back seat until the age

of 13.

For further reading about air bags and children in

vehicles, visit The Children’s Hospital of Philadel-

phia at www.chop.edu.

Clek designed an innovative back-

less booster seat that features a

rigid latching system. The Olli

Latching Booster Seat attaches to

the lower anchors in a vehicle to

provide an additional level of sta-

bility in a collision. The rigid

latching system also prevents the

booster seat from transforming

into a projectile in the event of a

crash, when the seat is unoccu-

pied.

The Olli Latching Booster Seat is

designed for comfort and user

friendliness. This booster seat pre-

vents “Numb Bum” syndrome by

providing additional layers of

padding in the car seat’s design.

“Numb Bum” syndrome describes

when a child’s bottom feels pain

and a tingling sensation from sit-

ting for extended periods of time.

The seat covers for this backless

booster are removable and ex-

changeable. The seat covers incor-

porate bright colors and fun de-

signs to encourage older children

to continue to use their booster

seat. These covers are easy to

clean because they are stain,

moisture, and germ resistant. The

Olli Latching Booster Seat trans-

ports effortlessly, weighing only 5

pounds.

The Olli Latching Booster Seat is

approved for use in Canada and

the United States. It is designed to

hold a child from 40 to 120

pounds and from 40-57 inches

tall. The Olli Latching Booster

Seat’s retail value starts at $99.00.

More information can be found on

t h e i r w ebs i t e a t h t t p : / /

clekinc.com/olli/.

The Olli Latching Booster Seat By: Amanda Burnside, MPH, CPST

DISCLAIMER: Trade and brand names are used only for information, and descriptions are those of the manufacturers. The University of Georgia Extension, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences

and College of Family & Consumer Sciences, does not guarantee nor warrant published standards on any product mentioned, neither does the use of a trade or brand name imply approval of any product to the

exclusion of others which may also be suitable.

Doona recently manufactured a rear-facing-only car

seat that can transition into a stroller through a simple

five-step process. This innovative car seat is called

the Doona Infant Car Seat and is approved for use in

Europe and the United States. The Doona Infant Car

Seat encompasses two different stroller modes. These

include: one for crowded areas where the caregiver

needs more control and one for spacious areas where

the caregiver needs less control. This car seat also

features many mechanisms to prevent misuse during

installation. The Doona Infant Car Seat incorporates

side impact protection as well as anti-rebound protec-

tion. The anti-rebound protection of the child restraint

(CR) absorbs the impact of a car crash and helps pre-

vent it from riding up the back of the seat during a

collision.

JUNE 2016 PAGE 3

According to the Department of Meteorology & Cli-

mate Science at San Jose State University, the number

of U.S. heatstroke deaths of children left in cars this

year is nine, as reported on May 25, 2016 by research-

ers of the Department of Meteorology and Climate

Change.

The Evenflo Company has released the Advanced

SensorSafe™ Embrace™ DLX Infant Car Seat with

Sensorsafe™ Technology. Evenflo boasts that the

Sensorsafe™ technology alerts the driver that the

baby is still in the car as well as sending a notification

that the chest clip is unbuckled during transit.

Additional attributes of the technology include:

The system includes a receiver plug and chest clip

transmitter; which works ONLY with gas/diesel

equipped vehicles 2008 or newer purchased in the

U.S. or Canada.

The system chip transmitter broadcasts an ex-

tremely brief and low power signal, no stronger than

your car’s keyless entry.

If a child becomes unbuckled during transit, the

SensorSafe™ will sound a series of gentle tones to

inform you within 30 seconds of the retainer clip

unbuckling.

The SensorSafe™ system can be used with mul-

tiple seats and in multiple vehicles. Each system

has a unique ID and will not get confused with an-

other seat.

Winner of the Best of Baby Tech Award in

2016.

The Advanced SensorSafe™ Embrace™ DLX In-

fant Car Seat with Sensorsafe™ Technology from

Evenflo costs $149. This is the organization’s at-

tempt to impact the loss of lives of infants from

heatstroke deaths while continuing to give back to

communities.

The Advanced SensorSafe™ Embrace™ DLX Car Seat By: Anthony Dilligard, MBA, CPST

The Doona Infant Car Seat By: Amanda Burnside, MPH, CPST

The Doona Infant Car Seat can be installed with

two different bases. Depending on the selection of

the base, the user has the option to install the car

seat with a lock off, lower anchors, or rigid con-

nectors. One of the bases also integrates a foot

prop to prevent excessive forward or downward

rotation in a crash.

The Doona Infant Car Seat can support a child

from 4 to 35 pounds and up to 32 inches tall. This

CR is also easy to transport, weighing 16.2 pounds.

The Doona Infant Care Seat costs approximately

$499.00. More information can be found on their

website at http://simpleparenting.co/car-seat/.

Need another copy of your CPST card? Go to cert.safekids.org and log in.

At the bottom of your profile page, click the link that states

“Click here for Your Wallet Card/Certificate.”

GTIPI Training Dates

PAGE 4 JUNE 2016

NHTSA’s recommendations for using child restraints can be found at www.safercar.gov

Are You Spreading the Word?

Best Practice Saves Lives

Register online at www.ridesafegeorgia.org

CEU Workshops for CPSTs

July 11 Online Webcast

July 27 Cairo

August 4 Peach/Byron

August 25 Rockdale/Conyers

August 31 Online Webcast

September 29 Rockdale/Conyers

Child Passenger Safety Technician

June 28-30 Baldwin/Milledgeville

August 9-11 Rockdale/Conyers

September 20-23 Rockdale/Conyers

P.R.I.D.E. Instructor Certification

August 2 Rockdale/Conyers

September 13 Rockdale/Conyers

CPST Instructor Development Training

(for CPST Instructors & Instructor Candidates)

July 19-20 Rockdale/Conyers

P.R.I.D.E. Instructor Re-Certification

July 11 Online Webcast

August 1 Online Webcast

September 12 Online Webcast