Hamad International Training Centre (HITC), a member of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) conducted a car seat check-up event for families in collaboration with the Child Development Centre recently. 
The event follows a training course designed to help families of children with special needs to find safe and practical solutions to keep their children safe in cars. 
Technicians were also on hand to check that car seats were properly installed. More than 70 people participated in the day’s activities.
“The course, which is pioneering in the region, is part of HITC’s Child Passenger Safety Training (CPST) initiative launched in 2013 in partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide and under the umbrella of Kulluna health and safety campaign, with support from ConocoPhillips,” said Dr Mahmoud Younis, assistant director of Health Promotion and Community Engagement HITC. 
“Kulluna has trained more than 70 people to become CPST technicians who then help us reach out to families in the community.”
Dr Mahmoud said 75% of people who use child car seats often have them incorrectly installed. This highlights the importance of the CPST courses which can help parents to spot and fix the mistakes to ensure their children are safe. 
Car safety seats are recommended for all children and should be properly selected according to the child’s height and weight. The CPST technicians can also help families with ensuring the safety seat is installed in the proper place in the car.  HITC has dedicated every Thursday from 8am to 2pm, to provide educational sessions for parents on child passenger safety.