Griffin, SafeKids Offer Child Passenger Safety Training

DERBY- Griffin Health and SafeKids Greater Naugatuck Valley are offering free training on how to make sure children are safe when travelling in cars.

Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley Coalition Coordinator Cathi Kellett, MA CPST-I, SN-I, will host “Child Passenger Safety 101” on Wed., Nov. 6 at Griffin Hospital, 130 Division St. There will be a session from 6-7 p.m. on general child passenger safety and a session focused on passengers with special needs from 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Both sessions will provide information about the importance of child safety seats and crash dynamics, infant seats and rear-facing convertibles, forward-facing seats, including combination seats, booster seats and seat belts, and aftermarket products and objects in the car.

To register, email Cathi at ckellett@griffinhealth.org by Nov. 1.

(This is a press release from Griffin Hospital)

Free Child Car Seat Check-ups

DERBY - Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley, Griffin Hospital and D’Addario Automotive Group of Shelton are teaming up to offer free child car seat checkups on Sat., July 14 from 10 a.m.-noon at D’Addario, 329 Bridgeport Ave., Shelton.

 

Child car seat experts will check seats to make sure they are installed correctly and provide proper protection.

 

To sign up or for more information, contact Cathi Kellett at 203-732-1337 or ckellett@griffinhealth.org.

 

(This is a press release from Griffin Hospital)

Car seat check-up slated in Shelton

SHELTON - Make sure your infant or child car seat is installed correctly at a free Car Seat Check-up from 10 a.m. -1 p.m. July 27 at Mario D’Addario Buick, GMC, Cadillac, 29 Bridgeport Ave.

Hosted by Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley, Griffin Hospital’s Valley Parish Nurses and Mario D’Addario Buick, GMC, Cadillac, this event offers car seat checks and instruction on how to properly install child safety seats from Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians.

Results from previous safety seat checks have shown that four out of five car seats are used incorrectly.
For information, call 203-732-1337.

This is a press release from Griffin Hospital.

Valley parish nursing program in Derby receives $7,500

DERBY - Griffin Hospital recently received a $7,500 grant from the BJ’s Charitable Foundation.

Griffin Hospital’s Community Outreach and Parish Nursing Program will use the grant to purchase infant car seats, booster car seats and bicycle helmets for its Safe Kids Car Seat/Bicycle Helmet Initiative.

“Many families in the Valley are facing economic challenges that can make it hard to afford the proper safety car seats and bicycle helmets for their children,” said Daun Barrett, RN, Director of Griffin Hospital’s Community Outreach & Valley Parish Nurse Program.
“This donation ensures that we will be able to continue hosting car seat safety clinics and bicycle safety classes where we will perform car seat safety checks, distribute and install new car seats and properly fit children for helmets as needed.”

The BJ’s Charitable Foundation is dedicated to supporting hunger prevention, self sufficiency, healthcare and education in the communities surrounding its Clubs.
BJ’s Charitable Foundation donated a total of $748,550 to 114 non-profit charitable organizations across its
footprint during this grant cycle to benefit the efforts of its partners working to impact the lives of individuals and families and enable them to continue to provide crucial services to those in need.

For information about BJ’s Charitable Foundation, visit www.bjs.com/charity.

Car seat initiative gets funding boost

DERBY - Griffin Hospital and Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley recently received several grants
to help provide child car-seat training and free child car seats to the community.

The CT Department of Public Health awarded Griffin and Safe Kids a grant to purchase 20 booster car seats, which will be distributed in a free training event from 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 11 at Griffin’s Dining Room, 130 Division St.

At the end of a two-hour training session, participants will receive a free highback booster seat and instruction on proper use.
To be eligible for the giveaway, participants must have a child that weighs between 40 to 80 pounds and is between 42 and 57 inches tall.
Also, the participant’s vehicle must have lap-shoulder seat belts in the back seat.

A Safe Kids Worldwide “Start Safe” grant has provided 16 child car seats.
The Griffin Safe Kids Chapter was one of just 17 across the country to receive this funding.
The seats will be distributed through a car seat clinic at the Head Start TEAM Early Care and Education Center in Ansonia.

The third grant comes from Valley United Way Special Needs program. This $1,100 grant will purchase car seats for special needs children.

For information about the car seat distribution or to register for the April 11 event, call Cathi Kellett, 203-732-1337. Please have the age, weight, and height of your child.

This information is taken from a press release from Griffin Hospital.

Clinic teaches child safety, distributes car seats

Safe Kids, Valley parish nurses host event

Easton Police Officer Mark Pastore secures Charlize Wallace into her new car seat. / Contributed photo

 

More than 75 children from the Valley will be traveling safer thanks to a car seat clinic Thursday.

 

Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley and Griffin Hospital Valley Parish Nurse Program hosted the car seat clinic at the Head Start TEAM Early Care and Education Center at 80 Howard Ave., Ansonia. Combining grants from BJ’s Charitable Foundation and Safe Kids USA, they were able to have a complete child safety education program that culminated in the distribution of 76 car seats.

“With the money from BJ’s and Safe Kids, we were able to have an entire educational program for the parents here which included pedestrian safety as well as car safety,” said Cathi Kellett, Coordinator for Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley and Special Programs Coordinator for Griffin Hospital Valley Parish Nurse Program. 
“To be eligible for a car seat, parents had to go through all of the classes and complete a post-test on all of the safety information. Today, we are able to give out 76 car seats to families in need.”

Car seat recipient Nicole Souza wasn’t aware her 4-year-old daughter Charlize Wallace still needed to be in a car seat until she was recently pulled over by local police. 

“Thankfully they gave me a warning, and I was able to participate in this program,” Souza said. “[Charlize] hasn’t been in a car seat since she outgrew her old one about a year ago.”

Kellett, along with school staff, gathered information from the parents ahead of time such as the children’s height and weight so they could have the correct seats prepped for installation at the clinic. The seats were installed by Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians, who undergo continuous training to maintain their title.

“We go through about 40 hours of training and have to recertify every two years,” said Mary Swansiger, Outreach Coordinator for Griffin Hospital Valley Parish Nurse Program. “During that two-year period, we have to work at various community events to keep our skills up, and have to practice on all five types of car seats.”


This information is taken from a release from Griffin Hospital.