Safety course focuses on children as passengers

A safety-seat checkup will take place on the final day.
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- UPMC Horizon, the Pennsylvania Traffic Injury Prevention Project, and Safe Kids Mercer County will host a four-day National Child Passenger Safety Training Course here for emergency services personnel from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 1-4.
The location will be the North Main Office Building, which is next to UPMC Horizon's Greenville campus.
On Nov. 4, course participants will assist a child safety seat checkup at Greenville Motors from 1 to 4 p.m. The checkup is free and open to the public.
The course is designed to train personnel such as police officers, firefighters, paramedics, medical professionals and EMTs to become Child Passenger Safety Technicians and to obtain national certification.
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to select appropriate child restraints and secure children in vehicle restraint systems according to child passenger best-practice guidelines; teach others how to install child-restraint systems and restrain children in vehicles; install child-restraint systems in multiple types of vehicles; use resources to retrieve information on child passenger safety; serve as a resource to the community, state and organization relative to child passenger safety; organize and coordinate a child-restraint system checkup event; respond to issues related to the role of Child Passenger Safety Technician.
Training van
The Erie County Safe Kids Child Safety Seat Check-Up van will be available for course participants.
Fee for the course is $60 and includes continental breakfast and lunch each day.
The course is sponsored by grants from Safe Kids Mercer County and State Farm Insurance.
Amy Higgins, RN, BSN, health education specialist at UPMC Horizon and child safety seat technician, coordinated the course at UPMC Horizon through UPMC NeighborLink, a program that encourages, supports and recognizes employee volunteerism.
To register, call (814) 838-9971.