Child safety in cars: It's in your hands

The figures are frightening. Between the years 2000 and 2006, more than 64 per cent of all childhood injury deaths in the UAE were due to road traffic accidents. In fact, they are the leading cause of childhood injury deaths in the country.

One possible reason for this could be that only 2 per cent of children are restrained by a seat belt or a child seat in a car, according to the Health Authority - Abu Dhabi (HAAD). It estimates that for every child killed, 171 are likely to be injured.

It was in light of this situation that Chevrolet, a General Motors' division, launched an initiative to help raise awareness of infant car seat safety across the UAE. Chevrolet is working with HAAD, Dubai Health Authority, Sharjah Medical District and the child injury prevention organisation, Safe Kids Worldwide, to train maternity nurses in child car safety across three hospitals in the UAE. It will also be donating 1,500 premium Maxi-Cosi child car seats to parents of newborn babies.

The reason: "Child car seats are recognised as the most effective method of reducing infant mortality in the event of a traffic accident," says John Stadwick, president, General Motors Middle East Operations. "Research shows that they can reduce infant fatal injuries by up to 71 per cent."

The goal is to get all children travelling in cars to fasten their seat belts - or if infants, to remain in child seats.

"At Chevrolet we have always taken child safety extremely seriously," says Stadwick. "We began our focus on raising the issue of child safety, and in particular educating parents about the importance of using child seats, way back in 2008 with a public awareness campaign. Now, research from various local universities and health authorities has highlighted the unacceptably high number of child fatalities in road accidents, which was being exacerbated by the low usage of child seats and restraints. Thus, our new campaign."

The company looked at ways to help reduce the fatality rate through educating parents about child seats and how they may save the life of their child. "We have since been engaged in various initiatives and are always looking for ways to make our efforts more meaningful for ourselves, our partners and, more importantly, our local community," says Stadwick.

The campaign

The Chevrolet - Child Seats Save Lives campaign was launched in October 2010. It differs from the 2008 campaign in two ways. "First, as well as raising awareness, we wanted to physically change parents' behaviour by actually giving them a child seat," says Stadwick. "We also wanted to train trusted members of society so that they could also spread this important message to parents.

"We found that the best time to change parental behaviour was at the birth of their baby. If parents take home their baby from the hospital strapped in a child seat then they are likely to continue to strap their infant into an appropriate child seat throughout childhood."

Chevrolet decided to donate 1,500 child seats, for infants aged up to nine months, to hospitals across the UAE. After meetings with health authorities in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, the company decided to donate 500 child seats each to Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, Al Rahba Hospital in Abu Dhabi and Al Qasimi Hospital in Sharjah. "We have already begun delivery of the child seats to Al Wasl Hospital and will begin delivery to the remaining two hospitals in the next few weeks. The hospitals will distribute the child seats to parents of babies born at their maternity units."

However, you cannot just give parents a child seat and expect a change in attitude in them; you need to ensure that they will use a child seat. "Parents need to be educated about the importance of using a child seat and how it may save the life of their child," explains Stadwick.

The Chevrolet - Child Seats Save Lives initiative has focused on training maternity nurses so that they can educate new parents about the importance of using child seats.

"Many parents believe that the safest place for their child is in their arms when they travel in a vehicle," points out Stadwick. "But in the event of a traffic accident, even at low speed, it would be almost impossible to hold on to a baby. Nurses are the best people to convince parents that they should instead leave the hospital with their baby strapped into a child seat."

The first step Chevrolet took before distributing the child seats was to train maternity nurses. "We brought in specialists from child injury prevention organisation Safe Kids Worldwide to train 70 maternity nurses in Al Wasl, Al Rahba and Al Qasimi hospitals," says Stadwick. These training sessions were organised to equip the nurses with the knowledge to educate new parents on the vital role child car seats play in preventing fatal injuries in the event of a road accident.

The training programme was designed by Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organisations whose mission is to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability to children aged between one year and 14. "It has plenty of experience in training not only maternity nurses, but also teachers, police officers and parents," says Stadwick.

"GM's relationship with Safe Kids goes back to 1997, when we created the Safe Kids Buckle Up programme in the US. This programme was instrumental in educational support, reaching some 20 million parents and care givers worldwide. They have been instrumental in increasing child seat usage in North American and reducing child fatalities in traffic accidents. They have much experience that will be vital to help the UAE encourage child seat usage and make road journeys safer for children."

The training programme is designed to equip the nurses with the knowledge and the skills to educate parents on why they should use a child seat. The training shows exactly what happens to an unrestrained child during an accident - even at low speed - and highlights the life-saving difference a child seat can make.

The child seat being donated by Chevrolet is Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix - a premium car seat designed for infants weighing up to 13 kg (from birth to nine months) costing Dh835.

Excellent feedback

Stadwick says the reaction to the campaign has been very positive. "The feedback we've received from the hospitals has so far been excellent. The maternity nurses were incredibly enthusiastic about the training and they will go on to be very powerful advocates for the use of child seats. For instance, some nurses attended the two-and-a-half hour training session straight after a night shift! We really believe that they will help change the behaviour and attitude of hundreds of parents regarding the use of child seats.

"I've also been impressed with the attitude of all the hospitals and health authorities, such as the Dubai Health Authority and the Health Authority Abu Dhabi. They are all working extremely hard to change attitudes towards the use of child seats and are pushing new legislation that will force parents to install child seats in cars. We're just glad that we can work with these partners to help make a difference."

The UAE is the first country where Chevrolet has launched the child seat initiative. But there is a plan to take it to other countries. "The UAE is not the only country in the region that faces a problem with high child fatalities in road accidents, so there is much work that needs to be done," says Stadwick. "Once we have received feedback from the health authorities, hospitals, parents and nurses in the UAE, we will confirm our plans to continue this initiative in the UAE and possibly take it to other markets. We also need to do research in other countries before we roll out a similar initiative. We may find in some countries working with nurseries and schools may be a better way to educate children and parents."

This not the first such public awareness campaign Chevrolet has launched. "Chevrolet has been committed to child safety for years on a global level, and the UAE is no exception," says Stadwick. "In 2008, we launched the The Buckle Up Safe Kids Campaign Interactive Road Show across several malls in Dubai. The public were able to view live demonstrations on how to correctly install and buckle up child seats and obtain advice about their child's safety on the road. This was supported by an advertising campaign and the distribution of over 10,000 leaflets. We reached thousands of parents with this important message of child passenger safety."

More initiatives

The child safety seat initiative is just one part of GM's corporate social responsibility programme. "GM Middle East is involved in several different areas as well," says Stadwick.

"For instance, we are also deeply committed to Al Noor Training Centre for Children with Special Needs. In October 2010, we donated a Chevrolet Express passenger van, which can comfortably accommodate 15 passengers."

GM has also been raising funds to sponsor a child's tuition and employees at GM Middle East have also been sharing their expertise in areas such as HR and IT. "We are also providing suitable work placements to some of Al Noor's students. Work placements are seen as key to enabling Al Noor's students to properly integrate into the wider society. In fact, the work placement we had at the Middle East Parts Distribution Centre in Jebel Ali has now turned into a full-time job contract."

What kind of a difference does the company hope to make with the child safety seat campaign? "We are looking forward to the day when the proper legislation is passed making child seats mandatory in cars across the UAE. This will have a direct impact on drastically reducing the appallingly high figures. Initiatives such as the Chevrolet Child Seats Saves Lives effort are absolutely essential in raising the awareness levels and generating the proper conversations in the right circles that will all hopefully culminate in safer roads for children in the UAE."

Facts

Ages 0-1: Rear-facing infant (or convertible) seat

Most of us know a newborn should ride in a rear-facing infant safety seat. What we may not be aware of is that a baby should ride facing rearward until they are one year old and weigh at least 9.07kg. Even if your six-month-old meets the weight criteria, the child should remain in a rear facing infant seat until the age of one. A child's neck and spine structure is not developed enough to keep them in a front-facing car seat until around the age of one.

Ages 1-4: Front-facing safety seat

A safety seat of this kind will be used for several years - when your child weighs 9-18kg and is typically aged between one and four. Tips to remember include:

Ages 4+: Booster seat

The NHTSA recommends children use a booster seat instead of the car's safety belt for the following reasons:

Click campaign: Seat belts keep children safe

Al Nisr Media, publishers of e+, Aquarius, 4men, Property, InsideOut and Wheels, has launched an awareness campaign to keep our children safe on UAE roads. The single biggest killer of children between the ages of two and 14 in the UAE is motor vehicle accidents, with 63 per cent of child deaths here last year attributed to road accidents. Many of these deaths could have been prevented if the children had been strapped into car seats or were wearing seatbelts. Add your voice to our campaign by signing up to our Click! Facebook fan page www.facebook.com/click or share your thoughts by emailing click@alnisrmedia.com. And remember, seat belts keep kids safe - so make sure your child buckles up today.

Stadwick's tips to parents on child safety in cars

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