Parkland Ambulance's car seat clinic had people looking for help almost immediately. (Rob Mahon/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Car Seat Clinic

Parkland Ambulance seeing weekly requests for help with car seats

Aug 10, 2022 | 12:00 PM

Parkland Ambulance often finds parents struggle to get the perfect fit for their child in a car seat. Because a poor fit can be dangerous, they’re offering some advice, and clinics on how to get the fit just right.

Anyone driving up Sixth Avenue this morning and early afternoon may have seen signs for one of those clinics. It had been open for just moments before a mother with three car seats drove up.

“We actually see a great need (for instruction) all the time,” said Lyle Karasiuk, director of public affairs with Parkland Ambulance. “There’s always someone that’s calling our office…on a regular weekly basis, there’s somebody reaching out.”

According to Karasiuk, these calls may be coming from parents who just got a new car seat, or from grandparents who only see the kids every so often and need advice on securing them properly. Even a change in the seasons and back-to-school might prompt some adjustments to the car seat.

“Maybe moms and dads are finding out how much kids have grown over the summer and they don’t have the right fit,” Karasiuk said. “It’s those cooler mornings and warmer afternoons where we might think about adding clothes. All of these factors go into helping us help parents make good decisions.”

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The right fit for a kid’s car seat might be more complicated than parents first realize. Parkland Ambulance runs car seat clinics fairly regularly, and they find parents often need help with some of the smaller details of the fit.

“There are two really major factors that go into a car seat,” said Karasiuk. “One is getting the right seat in the right way in the vehicle tightly. That’s paramount. The second component is getting the child in the seat the right way and tight as well. Once we get those two things achieved, then we’ve got a safe, effective use of a car seat.”

No parent wants to think about the possibility of being in a car crash with their child, but that’s when the safety aspect of a tight fit comes into play.

“You and I as adults, when we’re in a vehicle collision, we rely on of course the seatbelt and our forward body weight to stop us,” Karasiuk said. “There are mechanisms in the seatbelt that have that stopping effect. Then, of course, we have supplemental things like airbags. All of those kind of go out the window in a child.”

Karasiuk added the car seat clinics also make sure the seats themselves are properly secured in the vehicle.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP