AUGUSTA – The Child Health Center’s ProtectME Coordinator, Suzanne Cook, recently presented a two-hour familiarization training in Child Passenger Safety for the Department of Human Services.

Cook is a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician and Instructor for ProtectME and offers monthly child safety seat inspections for parents in Auburn, Rumford and South Paris.

Working out of the Auburn office Cook talks with parent groups, day care providers and other agency personnel throughout the region who are responsible for transporting or overseeing the transporting of children.

The DHS staff training included topics on proper installation of child passenger safety seats, proper restraining of children in the seats, proper use of seat belts, appropriateness of seats for different vehicles and children and many other areas of misuse.

“In Maine, 90 percent of children’s car seats are not being used properly,” Cook said.

“When correctly installed and fitted, a child safety seat reduces the need for hospitalization in children ages birth to 4 years by 69 percent and it decreases the risk of death by 71 percent in infants and 54 percent in ages 1-4.

However when mistakes are made in the installation of the seat or children are improperly restrained, they are not as protected as they would be if the seat was used correctly.”

The Child Health Center is a non-profit charitable organization whose purpose is to help improve the health and well being of children in western and central Maine.