For Immediate Release
May 30, 2001

Contact:
Beryl Wolfe
(207) 775-5115
E-mail: beryl@wolfenews.com
Web Site: http://www.martinspoint.org

BRUNSWICK, Maine - Martin's Point Health Care, Maine's largest primary care service, is joining forces with the Brunswick Police Department to enhance child car-seat safety.

Free drive-up safety inspections of infant and child car seats will be offered from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 3, at the Martin's Point facility in Brunswick, located at the corner of Farley and Bath roads at Cook's Corner. Parents are encouraged to bring their children to the inspection, allowing Brunswick police officers to ensure each safety seat is properly adjusted. For more information, please call Martin's Point at 1-800-260-6681.

"Child safety obviously is of paramount importance," said Dr. Jan Wnek, M.D., medical director of Martin's Point. "We want to give parents - and expectant parents - a convenient opportunity to have their children's car seats checked."

Dr. Wnek emphasized that national statistics have shown that the correct use of child safety seats can reduce the risk of death by 71 percent for infants, and by 54 percent for toddlers, when they are involved in a car accident.

The participating Brunswick police officers, who are nationally certified to conduct the inspections, will show parents the proper way to install infant and toddler car seats, as well as provide information about the type of seats to use.

Misuse of safety seats is widespread. Although 96 percent of parents believe they install the seats correctly, it is estimated that 85 percent of children placed in safety seats are improperly restrained, according to the National Safe Kids Campaign in Washington, D.C.

In Maine, voluntary safety checks statewide have shown that more than 90 percent of child safety seats may be improperly installed, according to Brunswick Police Detective Mark Waltz. "If they aren't being used correctly, they may not function properly in an accident," he said.

A common problem, for example, is that the safety seats are not secured tightly enough to the seat of the car. "You shouldn't be able to tug a safety seat more than 1 inch in any direction," Waltz said.

To help reduce that possibility, Martin's Point is providing free locking clips during the inspections in Brunswick. The clips are used on seat belts to provide a more secure fit for safety seats.

"Child-seat safety is an important issue that often doesn't always get the attention it should," Dr. Wnek said. "It only takes a few moments to make sure your child is as safe as possible in your car."

For more information on child-seat safety, please contact the Maine Coalition for Safe Kids at 207-778-2251 or visit the national Web site at http://www.safekids.org.

Martin's Point, with headquarters in Portland at 331 Veranda St., is a not-for-profit health care organization with facilities in Portland, Brunswick and Windham, Maine, and in Portsmouth, N.H. It has a staff of more than 300 health care professionals and serves 50,000 patients under all major health plans and insurance, including HealthSource, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Harvard Community Health Plan, Aetna, Maine Partners, Cigna, Anthem, Champus and Tricare plans.

Established in 1981, Martin's Point serves patients in the areas of family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, radiology, cardiology, mammography and other fields. For additional information, visit online at http://www.martinspoint.org.

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