CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Parents and professionals gathered at the Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad building on Monday to begin Child Passenger Safety Technician training, offered by UVA Health in partnership with Safe Kids, Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad and the Virginia DMV.

The 32-hour course, split into four eight-hour days, aims to teach participants how to properly install car seats in a vehicle to ensure the child’s safety. The course is open to the public and features a classroom portion and car seat installation practice.

Jessica Blake, an Ambulatory Rehabilitation Manager with UVA Health Children’s, said the course will “train certified technicians to install and inspect car seats, educate caregivers and families on best use and ensure that every child is traveling safely.”

As part of the course, the program will hold a car seat installation event on Thursday, during which families can come to the Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad to learn how to properly install their car seat. No appointment is necessary.

In all, 15 people are taking this latest edition of the course, and Blake said they come from a variety of backgrounds.

“This class is made up of UVA therapists, nurses from Mother/Baby (Unit), from our outpatient and inpatient therapy teams, from rescue squad partners, law enforcement and UVA Security,” she said. “And each of them has a different potential for contribution to child safety in our community.”

Among the participants was Maddi Knight, who works with durable medical equipment at UVA Health.

“We provide a variety of equipment to children who need various forms of help with mobility,” she said. “But one of the big pieces that I was missing was this car seat mobility part, and that’s obviously an important way that kids get around.”

About halfway through the first day, Knight said she was enjoying the course so far.

“It’s fun learning with a variety of professionals,” she said. “Having some police officers and firefighters, fellow co-workers and physical therapists all kind of bringing our own insight into the picture and learning how we all bring different expertise to this important topic of car seat safety.”

Knight said she had already learned information that she is planning to apply in her position with UVA.

“At UVA, we do adaptive car seats,” she said. “And so some of the things they were talking about, like children escaping from car seats and things like that, my mind is already turning on, ‘Okay, how can I safely now use what I’m learning here and apply it with the adaptive car seat that we do at UVA to kind of create this optimum experience for children (riding) in the car.'”

The ultimate goal of the program is to help keep kids safe on the road, as Blake said, up to 74% of car seats are installed incorrectly.

“(Charlottesville Albemarle) Rescue Squad, law enforcement and our team at UVA Children’s are here to support you in ensuring that your car seats are installed correctly,” Blake said.