MOBILE, Ala. – Through a grant from State Farm, 60 car seats were given away and 72 others were inspected during a car seat safety check event on Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Strada Patient Care Center in Mobile.

To mark Child Passenger Safety Week, 20 nationally certified car seat technicians from USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital worked to make sure child safety seats were installed correctly and to give car seats to those in need. The event was held in partnership with Safe Kids of South Alabama.

USA Health makes car seat safety a priority because research shows having an infant, toddler or booster seat correctly installed can lower the risk of serious injuries and death. It is also vital to make sure children are properly buckled into their safety seats, and that seat belts are appropriate for a child’s age and size.

“We know that properly installed car seats can save lives,” said Courtney Thomson, RN, B.S.N.- NIC, the hospital’s pediatric outreach coordinator who is also a nationally certified car seat inspector.

Car seat use reduces the risk of injury in a crash by up to 82% for children, when compared with seat belt use alone.

Trained technicians can help determine whether children are in the right seat for their age and size, and they can explain the importance of registering car seats with manufacturers, so owners can be notified when and if there is a recall.

Team members from Children’s & Women’s Hospital and other divisions have been providing free car seat inspections to the public for more than a decade. They plan to continue that initiative quarterly as a community service to patients, their families, and others.

For information on upcoming events, follow the USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital Facebook page.