Car Seat Schedule for Alameda and Contra Costa County
Come to a Car Seat Check –Up
 

In Alameda County more than 95% of children’s car seats are used or installed incorrectly.

Don’t put your child at risk! Come to a free car seat check up and have our trained technicians teach you how to ensure that your child rides safely.

(Inspections are done as staffing and the allotted time allows)

Trained NHTSA Child Passenger Safety Technicians will assist you to ensure that your children ride safely.
Alameda County events are sponsored by Alameda County Public Health Department, Injury Prevention Program:
Maternal Child & Adolescent Health and the EMS Division

Car Seat Recall List
http://www.carseat.org/Recalls/179NP.pdf
 

Participating Businesses / Agencies:

Car Seat Belts Do Not Increase Chance Of Fetal Complications Following Collisions

Science Daily

May 16, 2009
 

It is well established that seat belts save lives. However, many pregnant women do not wear seat belts, for fear that the belt itself could injure the baby in a car crash. But is this actually the case? Does the seat belt put the baby at risk?
 
A group of researchers led by Dr. Stacie Zelman from Wake Forest University examined a national database of over two million injured patients, and found over 2,400 pregnant women injured in car crashes. Women wearing a seat belt, having an air bag, or both were significantly less likely to have pregnancy-related complications than women with neither a seat belt nor an air bag. The combination of a seat belt and air bag resulted in the lowest rate of complications.

The researchers conclude that pregnant women should use seat belts with confidence that they will help, not hurt, in a crash.

The presentation, entitled “Automobile Safety Restraints Do Not Increase The Chance of Fetal Complications Following Motor Vehicle Collision,” will be given by Dr. Stacie Zelman in the Injury Prevention forum at the 2009 SAEM Annual Meeting at the Sheraton New Orleans on May 16, 2009. Abstracts are published in Vol. 16, No. 4, Supplement 1, April 2009 of Academic Emergency Medicine, the official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.
 

Seat belts protect unborn babies: study
By Will Dunham
Reuters
April 2, 2008

A pregnant woman who wears a seat belt greatly reduces the risk that her baby will die or be seriously hurt in a vehicle crash, according to a study that debunks the notion that seat belts are harmful to the fetus.

The University of Michigan researchers estimated that based on their findings, published on Wednesday, the lives of 200 of the roughly 370 fetuses killed yearly in U.S. vehicle crashes would be spared if all pregnant women wore seat belts.

"Seat belts absolutely protect the fetus -- and not wearing a belt is a big problem," Dr. Mark Pearlman, who led the study, said in a telephone interview. "Every single time they get in a motor vehicle, pregnant women should wear their seat belts without question -- every single time."

The researchers performed detailed analyses of 57 crashes involving women who were at least 20 weeks pregnant. Twelve fetuses were killed in the crashes.

Pregnant women who wore seat belts cut the risk of their fetus being killed or experiencing other serious complications in a vehicle crash by 84 percent compared to women who did not wear seat belts, the researchers said.

In the study, 72 percent of the women were wearing seat belts. Only 38 percent of the women whose babies died or suffered serious complications were wearing seat belts.

The serious non-fatal complications included the woman's placenta prematurely separating from the uterine wall, preterm birth prior to 32 weeks of pregnancy and direct fetal injury, the researchers reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Pearlman said he hoped the findings dispel once and for all what he called the "myth" that wearing a seat belt is harmful for the fetus.

"What this study also shows is that if you are unbelted, the mom did a lot worse. And since the baby's dependent upon the mom entirely for everything, that's part of what's going on here -- you're protecting the mom, you're also protecting the baby," Pearlman said.

Pearlman offered some tips on the proper way for pregnant women to wear seat belts.

He said the lap strap should be placed under the belly as much as possible, across the hips. The shoulder strap should be placed between the breasts and to the side of the belly.

Seat belt straps should not go directly across the stomach and should be below the belly button as low they can comfortably go. And the seat belt should be snug, not loose.

Overall, about 82 percent of people in the United States wear seat belts regularly, Pearlman said. The researchers said 6 percent to 7 percent of pregnant women are involved in some type of car crash during their pregnancy.

The study also turned up no evidence that air bags were harmful to fetuses, and Pearlman said he does not recommend disabling them.
 

The safest way to cross life's streets is to hold hands.

Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia and State Farm

The below site link was developed by Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a research partnership of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm®, to help parents and caregivers learn more about child safety seats, booster seats and seatbelts.

Keeping Kids Safe During Crashes

Since 1997, doctors and scientists at Children’s Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania have studied more than 300,000 motor vehicle crashes to learn more about child safety. The information on this site, and in our videos, follows current safety recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This page was last updated on February 9, 2010