A Child-saving Conversation
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Children's DoctorPublished on
Children's DoctorPatty Huang, MD, a developmental pediatrician at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, cares for children with trisomy 21, autism, and related disorders. She is also the moderator of the Research In Action blog from CHOP’s Center for Injury Research and Prevention.
When New Jersey’s new law regarding motor vehicle restraints for children went into effect in September 2015, it provided a nice opportunity to not only review car seat safety among my colleagues, but also with my patients’ families.
We pediatricians play a key role in counseling families about child passenger safety, but significant gaps in our awareness of current best practices remain. In a survey research study (led by my colleague Mark Zonfrillo, MD) of more than 500 American Academy of Pediatric members in the years following the 2011 AAP recommendations on car seat restraints, almost 10% of the respondents did not know the recommended age and/or conditions at which a child should be transitioned from a rear-facing child restraint system (CRS) to a forward-facing CRS. This New Jersey law, which is based on those AAP recommendations, only heightens our need to be aware of and to properly counsel families around best practices for child passenger safety, regardless of where we practice.
The basics of the new law:
Parents consistently cite pediatricians as a primary source of information for child passenger safety. With an average of 3 children being killed and 470 children being injured every day in traffic crashes (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2013 statistics), it is critical that we remain up to date on the best practices so that we can help to keep our families safe.
Zonfrillo offers these tips on how to fit in a meaningful discussion during a busy office visit:
Reference: www.medscape.com/viewarticle/831991
Contributed by: Patty Huang, MD
Categories: Pediatric Reflections, Children's Doctor Winter 2016