So we started out the day with the first workshop session. I picked out three for today that fit my field, my goals, my life, including of course the Special Needs workshop I was so excited about.
First up - keeping kids in seatbelts when we're not around! This session was really awesome - the first speaker was from Ohio and presented a program they'd run last school year, planned, implemented and evaluated through Case Western, and I just loved everything about it. To evaluate a baseline of parent perceptions regarding kids and seat belt use (classic needs assessment) they conducted a phone interview - about parent-child relationships in young teens - and used seat belt use as an example. Which is the genius of it. Because see, in public health, in anything, if you give away the sole purpose of your survey, the results are often compromised as people try to give desirable answers. If, however, you evaluate one thing WHILE evaluating something else, you get the advantage of decreased bias. Bias is the huge weakness of interview as a needs assessment tool. This nearly eliminates it. GENIUS!
Then, they targeted the program based on the results of the needs assessment. Another thing that they found along the way was that parents responded best to a light-hearted, non-preachy message. That can be something seriously hard to avoid in a field as serious as injury prevention. But guess what - they did it! We got to see some of their materials - conversation magnets, a mailing with 'stereotype parents' talking about seat belt usage, some truly hilarious stuff that got people's attention AND made them think.
All along the way, they evaluated it at various points, not only to see what changes were being created in perceptions, but what changes were occurring in actual PRACTICE. In the end, the results were amazing - enormous increases in seat belt usage. People really getting into the program. I would LOVE to see this replicated more widely! And right out of our own state!
This little princess, by the way, was AMAZING through the first two sessions - colored me a princess picture, complete with stickers. I kept getting compliments on my well-behaved kid!
Lunch was after that, lunch and exhibits. Uh, let me just say, the exhibits are AMAZING. And there are enough goodies being handed out to fill a whole extra bag on the flight home.
Just a portion of our conference loot on my bed. Oh yeah, and that cup by the TV? There's a pink one too... they change color. It's seriously awesome.
On to the special needs session. It was awesome. Seriously awesome. We talked about three main issues - special needs child restraints, aircraft transportation of special needs kids, and EMS transportation of uninjured or stable children. The highlight of this for me was hearing about different special needs restraints - which are expensive but absolutely AMAZING for what you are getting, especially coming from someone with a perspective on what it's like to HAVE special needs kids in your car. I just wanted to try all the seats out! There's a new rearfacing seat coming out for kids with abdominal issues that make putting a harness in front of them an issue (an issue I've heard of G tube families having a lot)... a new car bed that accomodates bigger infants who might need to lie down, such as those born with conditions like hydrocephalus (why yes, I did have a Reece's Rainbow moment there)... an adaptive booster that has a vest and extra restraints for kids with issues like low tone or autism as they get older and still need a more supportive restraint. And by older, I mean I could fit in this seat. Which I know isn't saying much, but I mean fit as in, it would be appropriate for me to ride in it at 23 years old if I had such a special need.
There was so much to talk about, and I was so excited - I wanted to ask questions about specific disabilities and situations with regards to adoption and older/larger children with untreated conditions (ie hydrocephalus) that are normally treated in infancy here, thus eliminating the need for older child restraints to accommodate them. We also found out that years ago, a child with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) like one of our little RR princesses whose face jumped to my mind the moment I heard the diagnosis, was restrained in a car bed, an early model car bed not as advanced as the ones on the market now, when the vehicle crashed and was totalled. Severe crash. The child, OI and all, was completely UNINJURED! We heard another account of a low speed crash in a more recent car bed with a child also completely uninjured. Ay ay ay, I have GOT to get special needs certified! I could blog all night and not cover this whole session.
Alas, there were other sessions to get to.
Among the updates coming to the CPS curriculum: all new pictures (NHTSA is requiring subject and photographer permissions), some re-organization of the seat belt section, updates regarding rear facing recommendations, extended harnessing recommendations, and various new car seat features, updates to the special needs section, a discussion of new vehicle features such as seat belt air bags, etc, clarification of some outdated rules... it's looking like all good stuff. There was also some discussion of reducing the course to 2.5 days plus the car seat check, so really a 3 day total. It essentially cuts very little time from the course most people are teaching, but in order to do so, the '32 hour course' designation would need to be changed, though, truly instructors can teach it in more time if they so choose. There was a bit of debate regarding this and whether it would adequately prepare technicians, and if a pre-module done online might help compensate. Personally, I think they're pushing it... some people are still lost after four full days, but perhaps with the reorganization, some efficiency and a pre-module, it could make the course more accessible and give us more techs!
Finally, we went back down the exhibits, and I saw... it...
...the buzz of the car seat world...
...three of them in the world...
...only a prototype...
WTF?
That's right. In the... polysomethingrather foam... I touched it... the FOONF!
I didn't take any pictures. I didn't know if it was still super secret, but I got to see all its features and modes demonstrated and let me just say, this thing is COOL. Cool enough to make me want to take the 9 year expiration and calculate the per-diem cost versus competing seats.
(from clek's website)
The Foonf concluded the conference part of our day, and Girlie (who by now was saying 'pool' about every other word) was hungry and restless, so we went back to our room for PBJ (I managed to pick up a knife and spoon at lunch) and swimsuits. Unfortunately for us, a classic Florida downpour was well underway.
Somebody was not happy and spent an hour entertaining herself with a reflective slap bracelet.
"Now Ellfant has a collar because he is my pet."
Love her.
In other news, we learned that given the chance, ducks WILL swim in a pool and drink chlorinated water. Just an FYI.
Finally, when the thunder and lightning stopped and we were left only with the rain, we headed down to the pool. She got two good hours of swimming in, befriended everyone we saw, whose parents were all amazingly good about how quickly Polly Princess-Pants became glued to them and their children... I just love these people, seriously, amazing conference full of amazing people who care about keeping our roads safe. Roads are safer because of the people at this conference. Loved ones are saved because of people at this conference. Adults, teens, and kids alike are safer in the car because of what these people do. Debilitating injuries are prevented because of people in this very building. A statistic quoted today states that for every percentage point we increase seat belt use in a population, three lives per year are saved. How many lives would that be, because of these people? And keeping kids safe... regardless of who they are, where they came from, or what challenges they may face... is just a little easier and more accessible for families... because of these people. I can't tell you what a priviledge it is to be a part of this group.
And well, the accommodations aren't anything to sneeze at either ;)
In final news, I won't be blogging again until Saturday, but then it's going to be a monster... because tomorrow is DISNEY DAY!!!! I expect to be there to closing, come back to the hotel, and fall into bed before my morning sessions.
Have I mentioned that this trip rocks?
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