Editor:
We are so appreciative of the services provided by the Ladysmith Volunteer Fire Department. They have made certain that our grandchild-to-be will be transported in a completely safe manner.
We have to tell the folks of Ladysmith that there is a service provided by our wonderful Ladysmith firefighters that many people might not know about.
We will be the proud grandparents of a bouncing baby grandchild next week. We bought a car seat and really did not know the correct way to install it.
Today, we met with Dan Cross at the Ladysmith Fire Hall. The volunteer firemen there have been specially trained to demonstrate the proper way to install a baby car seat. They have the manuals showing which cars can have which car seats and the equipment that each make and model of car has to use for car seats.
Dan Cross spent an hour showing us how to install this car seat. You may think it is easy. It isn’t. You must know the specifics of your car and if you can use the Universal Anchorage System (UAS), which are usually metal rings put in at the bottom of seat, or if you can use the seat belts. If seat belts do not rachet, then they cannot be used.
Dan taught us the correct way for the baby to be buckled in. The seat belt cannot go into the car seat from over the baby’s shoulder, but behind it. There are so many details that many people need to know to buckle the child in correctly and install the seat in the car correctly.
Also, if you take out the car seat and install it into a different car, you need to know what to look for in different makes and models of cars.
Dan Cross gave me a website by Vancouver Island Car Seat Techs. It has a lot of very important safety information. The biggest shock was that most car seats are not installed correctly.
Please visit this website or call our wonderfully committed volunteer fire department and make an appointment. It could save the life of your child or your grandchild.
We would like to thank Dan Cross and the other members of the Ladysmith Volunteer Fire Department from the bottom of our hearts. It was an hour well spent on so many different levels.
Linda and David Brown
Ladysmith