Child Passenger Safety (CPS)
The Automobile Association of America and AMSA have created a new module to teach students about the importance of properly restraining children in vehicles. The module is designed to educate healthcare providers on the critical issue of child passenger safety, and to identify the role of medical personnel in delivering that information to parents.
Since automobile crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 3-14 in the United States, healthcare providers can play an important role in preventing these fatalities by guiding parents through the growth and development of their children. By teaching parents about crash dynamics and how automobile restraints work to prevent child injuries, AAA and AMSA hope the information will help providers better understand the need for restraints, as well as provide better advice to patients and their parents.
Child passenger safety is just one of the numerous facets of injury prevention that may not be adequately addressed in the standard medical school curriculum. However, through AMSA's collaboration with AAA, we are able to provide additional training tools for medical students, as well as all healthcare professionals, to bridge this gap in education. In addition to the new curriculum module for medical students, AAA is conducting research on other tools to help medical practitioners deliver more powerful messages to their patients regarding child passenger safety.
For more information on AAA's involvement in child passenger safety and legislation designed to protect children in vehicles, visit www.aaa.com/publicaffairs.
Begin the Child Passenger Safety Module Now...