HUNTSVILLE – Three out of four car seats in the U.S. are installed incorrectly. And in Alabama, motor-vehicle crashes are the single largest category of accidental child deaths.
With that as a backdrop, Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children and Buckle Up for Life – a national child-passenger safety program created by Toyota and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center – announced a new partnership coinciding with the start of National Child Passenger Safety Month.
The collaboration will further the hospital’s work of ensuring parents, caregivers, and children in the Huntsville area have certified car seats and are educated on the proper installation and use of car seats, booster seats and seat belts.
“Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children works to save lives every day,” said Elizabeth Sanders, vice president of Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children. “Our car seat fitting program and this partnership with Buckle Up for Life furthers that mission by preventing injuries and fatalities of young passengers.”
The partnership was unveiled during an event at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children where 50 child safety seats were given to the hospital to distribute, at no cost, to patient families in need.
“We want to help make sure that all families have the resources and education they need to help keep their children safe on the road,” said Jason Puckett, president, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama. “I speak firsthand as a grandfather who has a loved one in a car seat. The work of Buckle Up for Life and Huntsville Hospital saves lives.”
Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children’s car seat fitting program is free to the public and by appointment only. Participants will receive education on child passenger safety and have their car seats installed or checked by a highly trained technician.
“Our research has shown that community organizations offering the Buckle Up for Life program have improved auto-safety behaviors,” said Gloria DelCastillo, child passenger safety expert at Cincinnati Children’s and senior specialist of community engagement for Buckle Up for Life.
Buckle Up for Life, created in 2004 to keep child passengers safe, partners with local children’s hospitals and community organizations throughout the nation. Buckle Up for Life medical experts and trained specialists deliver vital safety information to families about proper use of car seats and seat belts. Buckle Up for Life also provides free car seats to families in need.
“We currently have a collaboration with 504 community organizations across the nation providing child passenger safety education and resources to their communities. By adding Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children to our list, we get one step closer to reducing the startling statistics of improper car-seat use,” added DelCastillo.
Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children’s car seat fitting station is free to all participants and supported by community donors.
To donate to the program, visit huntsvillehospitalfoundation.org.
To schedule a car seat fitting appointment call (256) 265-7296.
For more information related to Buckle Up for Life, including car seat installation tutorials, visit BuckleUpforLife.org.
Media Release/Angie Rose/Huntsville Hospital
