St. Tammany Health System’s team of child seat installation experts had a little precious cargo of their own on the drive back from the 2023 Louisiana Child Passenger Safety Conference in Baton Rouge recently.
Speech Therapist Jourdan Wactor, one of six people from STHS’s Parenting Center and Rehab Therapy program to attend the conference, earned a medal as one of this year’s Child Passenger Safety Heroes.
It is the second consecutive year an STHS colleague earned the honor and the fourth time since 2018. (St. Tammany Parenting Center Executive Director Lori Cage earned the honor in 2018 and 2021. Marla Rabalais, also of the Parenting Center, was an honoree last year.)
“We’re so proud of Jourdan and all of our child passenger safety experts,” said Lori Cage, executive director of the Parenting Center. “Our car seat fitting program is really a labor of love for the team at the St. Tammany Parenting Center, which has been a certified car seat fitting station for 21 years.”
It is also one of just two sites in the state certified to conduct fittings for special-needs children. (See below for more information on STHS’s special-needs car seat installation program.)
Over the past 30 years, an estimated 11,000 lives have been saved by child restraints according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Child passenger safety technicians such as Marla and Jourdan are certified experts who can help with choosing and installing a car seat in accordance with Louisiana laws.
The Louisiana Child Passenger Safety Conference, attended this year by some 220 child passenger safety technicians, is held annually as an update on the latest in seats, technology and vehicles, all part of an effort to improve highway safety in Louisiana.