By Amy Plass, Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor
CPST stands for Child Passenger Safety Technician, but we are often informally referred to as “car seat techs.” The truth is we help educate families and caregivers on all sorts of child passenger safety questions – from birth through booster and beyond. CPSTs can help you to select an appropriate seat that fits your baby, your budget, and your car. They can teach you to correctly install it, and talk about when to transition to the next step.
So now that you have a bit of an idea of who we are, now let me tell you about what we are NOT. CPSTs are NOT “installers”. We are EDUCATORS. We will show you or talk you through your car seat installation, but we aren’t going to do it all l for you. Our goal is for you to learn how to do it correctly yourself, so that when the seat inevitably gets moved, or you have to switch the seat into another car, you don’t have to call us.
We are NOT always first responders. Sure, there are some really great techs out there who work in law enforcement and firefighting. But not every CPST is a first responder, and not every first responder is a CPST. In fact, let’s bust this myth right now. You may have heard that if you ever need help with your car seat, all you have to do is go to the local PD or fire department. NOT TRUE. You may be lucky and happen to arrive when a CPST is on duty. But you may also be turned away because there is no one trained to help. Unfortunately, sometimes someone who really wants to be helpful may give you bad information. So make sure you are meeting with a CPST!
How will you know if a CPST is legit? Anyone who is a CPST and is current on all of their certification requirements is a card carrying member. FOR REAL. We have tech cards that show our name and tech numbers, and you can ask to see them! The best way to find a tech near you is to search cert.safekids.org and click on “find a tech”. Some techs (usually those that work for hospitals or health districts) are paid by grant programs, or are volunteers. Others are private techs, and while you may pay a small fee for their services, many of them will come out to your home.
(Full disclosure: I do a little bit of both. I love volunteering, but I also spend hours on continuing education. Plus babysitters don’t pay for themselves, and I can’t always donate my time. I try to balance both paid private paid checks and volunteer work – because accessibility is important but I also need to value my own time.)
Since most of you reading this are in Spokane, definitely check out the free car seat checks at Sacred Heart. You can book an appointment here. You can also follow Safe Kids Spokane on Facebook for information about car seat check up events throughout our community!
Wait! Wait! What’s that extra word in my title, you ask? Nope, it’s not a typo. In addition to being a CPST, I am also an instructor! That means I get to work with other awesome instructors for 4 day long classes to train the next up and coming CPSTs! So if you are interested in learning about crash forces, all the ways a seatbelt can be locked, and all sorts of technical car seat safety knowledge, definitely reach out and I will help you find a class in your area!
Amy is a Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor, Babywearing consultant, and the owner of the Inland Mama shop. She lives and works in Post Falls, Idaho, with her husband and kids. Check out Inland Mama’s high-visibility ad under the Retail section of the Spokane Birth Resource Directory.
Images associated with this blog article are courtesy of NHTSA.