Our Favorite Cause: ANSR (Ambulances Need Safety Regulations) For Kids

little girl and nurse in ambulance.finalA Mothers Story…
“In 1971, I was in a car accident in which my children ages 3, 5 & 8 were injured. In the ambulance, an EMT held my youngest (with possible broken leg and internal injuries), a fireman held my oldest (cut with glass shards) and my middle child (bleeding and with possible internal injuries) was placed on a stretcher with me holding on to her. None of us wore safety restraints on that high speed ride to the emergency room. 38 years later, nothing has changed.”

 

Even today, there are still no safe options available for transporting a young child on an ambulance …

  1. A parent is secured on the stretcher and holds the child
  2. A single strap or harness “secures” the child directly to the stretcher with no head or neck support
  3. If one is available and the child’s injuries can support its use, a car seat is strapped to the stretcher (even though manufacturers clearly stipulate this is not its intended use).

ANSR for Kids’ goal is to establish regulations that require each child be safely secured when transported by ambulance …because every child’s life is worth it

Are You Aware?

Pediatric Safety

March 2003: 3-day-old baby survives an ambulance crash and was found on the ground in the dark. As a result of her brain injuries she will require skilled medical care for the rest of her life and will never attend school.

Pediatric Safety

May 2004: An ambulance and a garbage truck collided in north Houston. An 8-month-old girl was being taken to a doctor’s appointment when the crash occurred. The little girl and paramedic were ejected from the vehicle. Both were transported to the Hospital in serious condition.

Pediatric Safety

Dec 2008: 4-week-old seriously ill boy was being transported for treatment when the ambulance skidded and overturned. The baby was transported to the hospital where he was considered to be in critical condition.

  • In the US, approx 1.7 Million Children under 5 years old are transported by emergency vehicles each year
  • There are also approximately 4,500 ambulance and fire vehicle crashes/year; 1,000 crashes/year involve children
  • In a collision at 35mph, an unrestrained 15kg child is exposed to the same forces as in falling from a 4th story window.

It is unacceptable that in the US and in many other countries, there are no national requirements to safely restrain a child in an emergency vehicle

Child Passenger Safety and ANSR’s

What I Remember and Why It Matters: A 1978 Child EMS Transport

What I Remember and Why It Matters: A 1978 Child EMS Transport

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St. Petersburg, FL., the year was probably 1978 or 79. My partner and I had responded to a drowning in a large apartment complex at the north end of town. When we arrived we found a bunch of people doing or trying to do CPR. While we were getting into position to take over care a news crew arrived and began to film the action- the cameraman positioned right behind me. The child was blue and just had that look and feel. The outcome was not going to change and it was not right that it was being filmed- solely for the benefit of the TV station. Somehow when I stood up I bumped into the cameraman and... 

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Finally – A Step Towards Safe Transport for Kids in Ambulances!

Finally – A Step Towards Safe Transport for Kids in Ambulances!

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In 2008 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) convened a working group of representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Emergency Medical Services for Children, the American Ambulance Association, and other key organizations and started a project called “Solutions to Safely Transport Children in Emergency Vehicles”. Finally a long-standing problem was being recognized and addressed: “there are no Federal standards or standard protocols among EMS and child safety professionals in the U.S. for how best to transport children safely in ground ambulances from the... 

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Car Seat LATCH Rules to Change in 2014: Please Read This Today

Car Seat LATCH Rules to Change in 2014: Please Read This Today

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A new rule that goes into effect in 2014 will require car-seat makers to warn parents NOT to use the Latch anchor system to install a car seat if the combined weight of the child and the seat is 65 pounds or higher. The LATCH anchors (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) were designed to make child seats easier to install and have been required in vehicles since 2001, but child-safety seat advocates say the strength of the anchors can’t be guaranteed because they don’t take into account the weight of the child seat, which typically weighs 15 to 33 lbs. In the June 6th USA Today,... 

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