What did the members of the Rescue Squad do during their summer vacation? They fitted and gave away free bike helmets to over 400 children at two safety events! They led the efforts to make August 4th National Night Out another huge success; working with local law enforcement, businesses, civic groups, and many others, it was a night of learning fun, and "Neighbor helping Neighbor;" the local food banks are grateful for all the generous donations. Volunteers provided poison prevention information to many children and their parents, held CPR and First Aid classes, gave station tours, led the 4th of July Parade in the Harbour, held continuing education classes, emergency vehicle driver training, responded to hundreds of emergency 911 calls, and totaled more than 3500 volunteer hours. And August isn't over yet!
Child Passenger Safety Week, September 12-18, 2009 emphasizes the importance of safely transporting children throughout their childhood. During this week and year round, the Aquia Harbour Volunteer Rescue Squad is encouraging parents and caregivers to buckle up their children, on every ride, and to educate children about safety in and around vehicles.
Riding unrestrained is the greatest risk factor for death and injury among child occupants of motor vehicles. In Virginia during 2008, 12 children under the age of 16 died and 295 were injured as a result of being unrestrained in a motor vehicle crash. Sadly, many of these tragedies could have been prevented..
Every child should be restrained in a child safety seat or a booster seat until they turn 8 years old, or are 4 feet 9 inches tall or taller.
Unfortunately, many parents believe that once their child has outgrown his or her forward-facing child safety seat, an adult seat belt offers adequate protection. But, using seat belts alone to secure small children can be dangerous. A shoulder belt designed for an adult can cut across a child's neck and the lap belt can ride up over the stomach, which could cause a serious or fatal injury in a crash. That is why we encourage parents to put children around ages 4 to 8 years old and under 4-feet 9-inches tall in booster seats. A booster seat positions the lap and shoulder belts correctly, low over the hips and upper thighs and snug over the shoulder.
For more information on child passenger safety, call Stafford County Fire and Rescue at 540-658-7200 or call the Virginia Department of Health, Division of Injury and Violence Prevention at 1-800-732-8333 or visit its web site at www.safetyseatva.org to learn of locations to get your child safety seat or booster seat inspected and installed correctly.
To contact AHVRS call 659-8911 or visit us at www.ahvrs.org
