Ford Motor Company Fund’s

See Me Safe Program

 

 

The See Me Safe passenger safety program is a unique collaboration between Ford Motor Company Fund and Meharry Medical College. During 2007, the pilot year of the See Me Safe project, the team developed and successfully implemented a two-pronged program to promote proper and consistent use of pediatric safety restraints by children traveling as passengers in motor vehicles. This program combined community outreach and education for parents/caregivers with health care provider education in three urban U.S. regions: Nashville, Tennessee; Detroit, Michigan; and Dallas, Texas.

 

In year two, the See Me Safe program built on its success by partnering with three additional organizations to promote child passenger safety in Chicago, Illinois; San Diego, California; and Miami, Florida. One hundred fifty (150) child passenger safety seats and booster seats were distributed in each city. The partners included a child passenger safety check-up day, complete with educational material and seat give-aways, in their activities. A refinement of the pilot-year protocol was to conduct these events on Saturdays to ensure that outreach activities did not exclude parents/caregivers with booster seat age children who were in school on weekdays. In addition, See Me Safe planned a media event to announce the collaboration and launch the distribution of the safety seats.

 

Essential Components

  • Press Conference at the partner institution announced the collaboration
  • Safety seat installation demonstration with 10 families immediately after the press conference to provide a photo opportunity for all
  • One hour Prescription for Safety workshop for health care providers—“Lunch & Learn”—included a pre- and post-survey to assess the impact of the education intervention
  • Saturday booster seat event

 

 Meharry Medical College and Ford Motor Company Fund provided:

  • One hundred fifty (150) child safety seats and booster seats
  • Continental breakfast for press conference attendees
  • Education for health care providers on motor vehicle occupant safety for children
  • Lunch for Prescription for Safety attendees
  • $2,000 grant to conduct a Saturday booster seat event
  • Two Polaroid cameras to capture each child secured safely in his/her seat
  • A scale to weigh the children
  • A chart to determine correct height of children
  • Picture frames for the See Me Safe photos
  • Pre- and post-survey IRB approval

 

Partners:

  • Coordinated press conference in collaboration with Meharry Medical College and Ford Motor Company Fund
  • Determined location for press conference/media event
  • Selected 10 families for child safety seat installation demonstration immediately following the press conference, giving special attention to a known success story
  • Recruited technicians for safety seat installations
  • Planned a Saturday booster seat check-up event, if desired
  • Recruited providers to attend the Prescription for Safety presentation
  • Secured an auditorium or classroom for the Prescription for Safety education session
  • Determined an ongoing system for distribution of the remaining 140 seats
  • Submited a report to Meharry on distribution of the 140 seats

 

 

See Me Safe

Picture Frame

 

“The framed picture [hangs] on my refrigerator door to

remind me where the straps and the clip go.”

—Mother of two young girls, Detroit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


“I like that the technicians got me actively involved with the installation. It helped me when I had to reinstall my child’s car seat in another car.”

—Mother in Detroit, MI

 

“I felt more confident in installing my child’s car seat after attending the event.”

—Mother in Dallas, TX

 

 

Prescription for Safety

Text Box: Feedback from Health Care Providers “We would like to include the program in our grand rounds with providers and residents and include opportunities with Miami Children’s Hospital, the Florida Pediatric Society, and Pediatric Associates.” —Pediatrician, University of Miami School of Medicine “This would be a great program to offer to our staff, especially our community outreach nurse educators and our pediatricians.” —Official at the Metropolitan Nashville Public Health Department “Thank you for contacting us about the ‘See Me Safe’ program; it is certainly a worthwhile and needed project.” —Director, Automotive Safety Program at Riley Hospital for Children and the Indiana University School of Medicine

 



See Me Safe

Tip Sheet

 

See these helpful websites to learn more about child passenger safey...

www.nhtsa.gov

www.aap.org

www.safekids.org  

www.carseat.org

 

 

Are you interested in certification as a child passenger safety technician? Visit www.safekids.org/certification