For Immediate Release
September 30, 2004

Contact:
Lanelle Roussel
(207) 774-5801
Jason Wolfe
(207) 883-6083
E-mail: jason@wolfenews.com
Web Site: http://www.martinspoint.org

Martin’s Point Health Care is joining forces with the Brunswick Police Department on Saturday to provide free drive-up safety inspections of infant and child car seats.

The event, aimed at enhancing child car-seat safety, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday (October 2) in the parking lot of the Martin’s Point facility in Brunswick, located at the corner of Farley and Bath roads at Cook’s Corner.

Brunswick police officers, 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. Parents are encouraged to bring their children to the inspection.

National statistics show 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, in a car accident.

But 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 Maine, voluntary safety checks statewide show that more than 90 percent of child safety seats may be improperly installed. A common problem, for example, is that the safety seats are not secured tightly enough to the seat of the car. Safety seats should be tight enough to prevent tugging more than 1 inch in any direction.

Established in 1981, Martin’s Point is a not-for-profit health care provider with facilities in Portland, Brunswick and Windham, Maine, and in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and serves patients in the areas of family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, radiology, cardiology, and mammography, as well as other fields. For additional information, visit online at www.martinspoint.org.

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