open access

Vol 7, No 3 (2022)
Original article
Published online: 2022-08-08
Get Citation

The level of knowledge of healthcare professionals about child restraint systems

Ilona Skitek-Adamczak1, Natalia Ciepluch1, Tomasz Kłosiewicz1
·
Medical Research Journal 2022;7(3):203-207.
Affiliations
  1. Department of Medical Rescue, Chair of Emergency Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland

open access

Vol 7, No 3 (2022)
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Published online: 2022-08-08

Abstract

Introduction: Knowledge of how to correctly use the safety car seat is important to ensure that children are properly protected during their journey. European child transportation standards apply in Poland, which also indicate the type of car seat appropriate for the youngest children. The purpose of this survey is to assess the healthcare professionals knowledge in this field and estimate the percentage of children transported in rearward facing car seats. Currently, in Poland, there is a lack of collected data about the direction of the car seats in which the child traveled. This deficit is being initially supplemented by the results of the conducted study.

Material and methods: 105 healthcare professionals participated in the study. They filled in questionnaires consisting of 29 questions that assess their level of knowledge about child restraint systems.

Results: More than half of the respondents (n = 63; 61.76%) were convinced that a 2-year-old child traveling in a rearward facing car seat (RWF) is safer than if it traveled in a forward-facing car seat (FWF). Despite this, most of the healthcare professionals transported children over 1 year of age in FWF. In addition, not all healthcare workers are aware that the airbag should be deactivated when the child is transported in RWF in the front passenger seat.

Conclusions: Healthcare professionals have insufficient knowledge about the safest way of how to transport children in their safety seat. This indicates a need to implement appropriate means to raise their awareness of this subject.

Abstract

Introduction: Knowledge of how to correctly use the safety car seat is important to ensure that children are properly protected during their journey. European child transportation standards apply in Poland, which also indicate the type of car seat appropriate for the youngest children. The purpose of this survey is to assess the healthcare professionals knowledge in this field and estimate the percentage of children transported in rearward facing car seats. Currently, in Poland, there is a lack of collected data about the direction of the car seats in which the child traveled. This deficit is being initially supplemented by the results of the conducted study.

Material and methods: 105 healthcare professionals participated in the study. They filled in questionnaires consisting of 29 questions that assess their level of knowledge about child restraint systems.

Results: More than half of the respondents (n = 63; 61.76%) were convinced that a 2-year-old child traveling in a rearward facing car seat (RWF) is safer than if it traveled in a forward-facing car seat (FWF). Despite this, most of the healthcare professionals transported children over 1 year of age in FWF. In addition, not all healthcare workers are aware that the airbag should be deactivated when the child is transported in RWF in the front passenger seat.

Conclusions: Healthcare professionals have insufficient knowledge about the safest way of how to transport children in their safety seat. This indicates a need to implement appropriate means to raise their awareness of this subject.

Get Citation

Keywords

traffic accidents, health care professionals, child restraint system, injuries, accident prevention

About this article
Title

The level of knowledge of healthcare professionals about child restraint systems

Journal

Medical Research Journal

Issue

Vol 7, No 3 (2022)

Article type

Original article

Pages

203-207

Published online

2022-08-08

Page views

3871

Article views/downloads

347

DOI

10.5603/MRJ.a2022.0036

Bibliographic record

Medical Research Journal 2022;7(3):203-207.

Keywords

traffic accidents
health care professionals
child restraint system
injuries
accident prevention

Authors

Ilona Skitek-Adamczak
Natalia Ciepluch
Tomasz Kłosiewicz

References (26)
  1. Statistics of the Police Headquarters for 2021. http://statystyka.policja.pl/st/ruch-drogowy/76562,wypadki-drogowe-raporty-roczne.html (28.04.2022).
  2. National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2022, April). Children: 2020 data. (Traffic Safety Facts. Report No. DOT HS 813 285). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
  3. National center for statistics and analysis. (2022, febru- ary). Early estimate of motor vehicle traffic fatalities for the first 9 months (january–september) of 2021 (crash•stats brief statistical summary. Report no. DOT HS 813 240). National highway traffic safety administration.
  4. Arp R. 1001 ideas that changed the way we think. Simon and Schuster, New York 2013: 790–791.
  5. Aldman B. A protective seat for children– experiments with a safety seat for children between one and six. SAE Tech Pap. 1964: 320–328.
  6. Isaksson-Hellman I, Jakobsson L, Gustafsson C, et al. Trends and effects of child restraint systems based on volvo's swedish accident database. SAE Technical Paper Series. 1997.
  7. Jakobsson L, Isaksson-Hellman I, Lundell B. Safety for the growing child: experiences from Swedish accident data. 19th International technical conference on the enhanced safety of vehicles - ESV, Washington, DC. 2005.
  8. McMurry TL, Arbogast KB, Sherwood CP, et al. Rear-facing versus forward-facing child restraints: an updated assessment. Inj Prev. 2018; 24(1): 55–59.
  9. Tingvall C. Children in cars. Some aspects of the safety of children as car passengers in road traffic accidents. Acta Paediatr Scand Suppl. 1987; 339: 1–35.
  10. Regulation No 129 of the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations (UN/ECE) — Uniform provisions concerning the approval of enhanced Child Restraint Systems used on board of motor vehicles (ECRS). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2014/129/oj. (29.04.2022).
  11. Regulation No 44 of the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations (UN/ECE) — Uniform provisions concerning the approval of restraining devices for child occupants of power-driven vehicles ( ‘Child Restraint Systems’ ). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX:42011X0909(02) (29.04.2022).
  12. Act of June 20, 1997 - The Road Traffic Act. Dz.U. 1997 nr 98 poz. 602. https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=wdu19970980602 (29.04.2022).
  13. Munkhbat L, Ogawa S, Oidov B, et al. Prevalence and characteristics of front seatbelt use in Mongolia among hospital workers. The Kitakanto Medical Journal. 2021; 71(1): 27–35.
  14. NHTSA: Car seat recommendations for children by age. https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/carseat-recommendations-for-children-by-age-size.pdf (28.04.2022).
  15. Durbin D, Hoffman B. COUNCIL ON INJURY, VIOLENCE, AND POISON PREVENTION. Child Passenger Safety. Pediatrics. 2018; 142(5): e20182460.
  16. Whyte T, Kent N, Griffiths M, et al. Dynamic frontal crash performance of old and used child restraint systems. Traffic Inj Prev. 2021; 22(7): 570–575.
  17. Research on public attitudes towards road safety. National Road Safety Council. Sopot 2014. https://www.krbrd.gov.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Badanie-postaw-spoleczenstwa-wzgledem-bezpieczenstwa-ruchu-drogowego-2014.pdf (30.04.2022).
  18. Instructions for using the seat BeSafe iZi Sleep. https://www.besafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BeSafe-iZi-Sleep-GB.pdf. (29.04.2022).
  19. Instructions for using the seat Primo ViaggioTri-Fix. . https://www.manualslib.com/manual/835619/Peg-Perego-Primo-Viaggio-Tri-Fix.html?page=10#manual. (29.04.2022).
  20. Instructions for using the seat Takata MAXI. https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1562740/Takata-Maxi.html?page=15. (30.04.2022).
  21. Huang YY, Liu C, Pressley JC. Restraint use and injury in forward and rear-facing infants and toddlers involved in a fatal motor vehicle crash on a U.S. Roadway. Inj Epidemiol. 2019; 6(Suppl 1): 28.
  22. Gan J, Davison C, Prince N, et al. Car seats: Facing backward is the way forward. Trauma. 2018; 21(1): 68–72.
  23. Whyte T, Kent N, Bilston LE, et al. Comparative performance of rearward and forward-facing child restraint systems with common use errors: Effect on crash injury risk for a 1-year-old occupant. Traffic Inj Prev. 2022; 23(2): 91–96.
  24. Cornelissen M, Hermans M, Tuijl L, et al. Child safety in cars: An observational study on the use of child restraint systems in The Netherlands. Traffic Inj Prev. 2021; 22(8): 634–639.
  25. Countermeasures that work: a highway safety countermeasure guide for state highway safety offices. Eighth Edition, 2015. https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/812202-countermeasuresthatwork8th.pdf (30.04.2022).
  26. Lee LK, Monuteaux MC, Burghardt LC, et al. Motor vehicle crash fatalities in states with primary versus secondary seat belt laws: a time-series analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2015; 163(3): 184–190.

Regulations

Important: This website uses cookies. More >>

The cookies allow us to identify your computer and find out details about your last visit. They remembering whether you've visited the site before, so that you remain logged in - or to help us work out how many new website visitors we get each month. Most internet browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can change the settings of your browser to erase cookies or prevent automatic acceptance if you prefer.

By VM Media Group sp. z o.o., ul. Świętokrzyska 73, 80–180 Gdańsk, Poland
tel.:+48 58 320 94 94, fax:+48 58 320 94 60, e-mail: viamedica@viamedica.pl