VWSO schedules child safety seat events

VW independent/submitted information

Van Wert County Sheriff Thomas M. Riggenbach has announced his office will be providing child passenger safety seat events during 2017.

Sheriff Riggenbach said his office is partnering with local fire departments in Van Wert County to provide these events for families, and added that the child passenger safety events will be scheduled on a Saturday morning in various months from 9-11 a.m.

During this time, parents, grandparents, caregivers, etc., can stop at the event to have their child passenger safety seat inspected to ensure the seat is properly installed and is the appropriate type of safety seat for the child using the seat.

Sheriff Riggenbach highly recommends that parents attending a child passenger safety seat events bring their child(ren) with them to the event. This allows Deputy Colleen Wiley, the sheriff’s office’s car seat technician, to ensure a child passenger safety seat is properly installed and is appropriate for that child.  During the inspection, Deputy Wiley will also provide educational information to families about safety seats.

Sheriff Riggenbach said car crashes are the leading cause of death for children 1-13 years of age, while many of those deaths and injuries could be prevented by using a properly installed car seat.  The sheriff also said his office’s partnership with local fire departments to provide the safety seat events makes a lot of sense.

“My office works with all the fire and EMS agencies at a motor vehicle crash scene to help people injured in crashes,” the sheriff noted. “It made sense that we work together on child passenger safety seat events to help try to prevent and reduce injuries or death of children in motor vehicle crashes.”

The first safety seat event will be this Saturday, February 11, at Middle Point Fire Department, 104 E. Jackson St. in Middle Point. The event will be from 9-11 a.m.

For more information about upcoming child passenger safety seat events, contact Deputy Colleen Wiley at 419.238.3866. Families that cannot attend the Middle Point event on February 11 can also contact Deputy Wiley to make an appointment to have their child passenger safety seat inspected.

All child passenger safety seat events are free to the public.