Seat Belt and Booster Seats Essay

Seat Belt and Booster Seats Essay Seat Belt and Booster Seats Essay Primary Care Approaches Patricia L. Jackson Allen, MS, RN, PNP, FAAN Booster Seat Usage for Children 4 to 8 Years of Age Debbie Gearner Thompson, Brian Robertson C hild restraint devices have significantly decreased child injury and death rates as the result of motor vehicle crashes. Despite these devices, motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death in children 4 years of age and older (Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP], 2011). All 50 states and the District of Columbia have child safety seat laws, but they vary from state to state regarding children’s ages and types of restraint (Governor’s Highway Safety Association [GHSA], 2012). Only Arizona, Florida, and South Dakota do not require booster seats or other devices for children who have outgrown their child safety seats but are still too small to safely use an adult seat belt. Ages vary by state regarding when booster seats must be used. Although laws exist, the use of booster seats for young school-aged children has been consistently lower than national goals (Macy et al., 2012). Many parents are unaware of state laws regarding booster seat use (Macy et al., 2012) and believe that children over 4 years of age can be transitioned from traditional child car seats to using only a seat belt. Lack of awareness that booster seats are designed to reduce the risk of injury and death in the event of a collision by repositioning the child’s body so that the seat belt properly secures the child is also an issue for many parents (see Figure 1) (Arbogast, Jermakian, Kallan, & Durbin, 2009; Bruce et al., 2009; Durbin, Elliott, & Winston, 2003; Elliott, Kallan, Durbin, & Winston, 2006). Elliott and colleagues (2006) evaluated the effectiveness of child safety seats vs. seat belts and found that children 2 to 6 years of age had a reduction in nonfatal injuries and a 28% reduction in risk of death using booster seats when compared to wearing only seat belts. The authors stress that the child restraint system is designed to reduce the risk of ejection and distribute the force of the crash through structurally stronger bones rather than soft tissues. By limiting crash forces and potentially limiting the contact of the occupant with the vehicle, a child restraint system provides a mechanical protection advantage over seat belts. When children are transitioned to adult seat belts too early, the lap portion of the belt rides up over their abdomen, with the shoulder portion crossing the neck or face. The child may also sit too far forward in order for their knees to bend at the edge of the seat. Because of the inappropriate positioning of the seat belt, the 4- to 8-year-old child using the shoulder-lap belt only is three times more likely to sustain abdominal injuries than the child restrained in a booster seat (Partners for Child Passenger Safety, 2004). During the rapid deceleration of a motor vehicle accident, a jack-knifed body position compresses the abdominal organs and the spinal column against the seat belt (Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention, AAP, 2011). This phenomenon, called â€Å"Seat Belt Syndrome,† has been identified in cases involving serious cervical and lumbar spinal cord injury and intraabdominal injuries related to poorly fitting seat belts. These Figure 1. Proper Seat Belt Placement When Utilizing Booster Seat Lap belt rests on tops of thighs Shoulder belt crosses center of chest bone and rests between shoulder and neck Debbie Gearner Thompson, MS, RN, CNS, PNP-BC, is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Children’s Medical Center Legacy, and Certified Car Seat Technician, National Child Passenger Safety Program, Plano, TX. Brian Robertson, PhD, MPH, is a Research Scientist, Injury Prevention Department, Children’s Medical Center Dallas, and Certified Car Seat Technician, National Child Passenger Safety Program, Dallax, TX. Child’s knees bend comfortably without touching Note: Used with

Free Essays on Into Thin Air

A FEW years ago, after reading Jon Krakauer's horrifying account of the 1996 expeditions to Everest (Into Thin Air) in which 11 climbers died (nine on a single night) due to a combination of bad luck, bad weather and inexperience, I got a bit put off by this mountain climbing business. To "prove" themselves, people had begun paying vast sums of money to be literally pushed or carried up the great mountain, at great risk not only to themselves, but to others as well, just so that later, they could boast that they had "conquered Everest". Right at the beginning of this book, Bear Grylls, at 23, the youngest Briton to have made it to the summit and back (which is what this book is about), admits: I didn't conquer Everest - Everest allowed me to crawl up one side and stay on the peak for a few minutes. This humility stays with the book throughout and is all the more refreshing as Grylls is at an age at which most young men swagger around being excessively macho and gung-ho. And Grylls had more reason than most to swagger. Two years before making his attempt, while serving with the British army, he broke his back in a freefall when his parachute failed to open during a jump. You might think that recovering from a broken back is adventure enough for a lifetime - but there is that dreadful demon in the human spirit, which awakens at such times and demands its pound of flesh. You have to do more - much more than merely recover and be normal. And you will find no peace until you do so. For Bear Grylls, always an avid climber, that meant an attempt on Everest - a mountain that has fascinated countless and drawn hundreds to its icy slopes. (The mountain claims one life for every six successful summit attempts.) This book recounts that story: from the run-around for sponsors, the hard training involved, the formation of the team, the wait at base camp and the attempt itself. What comes through clearly is how mountaineering cuts out all the ... Free Essays on Into Thin Air Free Essays on Into Thin Air A FEW years ago, after reading Jon Krakauer's horrifying account of the 1996 expeditions to Everest (Into Thin Air) in which 11 climbers died (nine on a single night) due to a combination of bad luck, bad weather and inexperience, I got a bit put off by this mountain climbing business. To "prove" themselves, people had begun paying vast sums of money to be literally pushed or carried up the great mountain, at great risk not only to themselves, but to others as well, just so that later, they could boast that they had "conquered Everest". Right at the beginning of this book, Bear Grylls, at 23, the youngest Briton to have made it to the summit and back (which is what this book is about), admits: I didn't conquer Everest - Everest allowed me to crawl up one side and stay on the peak for a few minutes. This humility stays with the book throughout and is all the more refreshing as Grylls is at an age at which most young men swagger around being excessively macho and gung-ho. And Grylls had more reason than most to swagger. Two years before making his attempt, while serving with the British army, he broke his back in a freefall when his parachute failed to open during a jump. You might think that recovering from a broken back is adventure enough for a lifetime - but there is that dreadful demon in the human spirit, which awakens at such times and demands its pound of flesh. You have to do more - much more than merely recover and be normal. And you will find no peace until you do so. For Bear Grylls, always an avid climber, that meant an attempt on Everest - a mountain that has fascinated countless and drawn hundreds to its icy slopes. (The mountain claims one life for every six successful summit attempts.) This book recounts that story: from the run-around for sponsors, the hard training involved, the formation of the team, the wait at base camp and the attempt itself. What comes through clearly is how mountaineering cuts out all the ... Free Essays on Into Thin Air Into Thin Air is without a doubt a unique and outstanding novel that grips the reader’s interest and holds onto it until the very last paragraph. What makes it so unique is the fact that the story is told in the first person by one of the few survivors of the deadly climb. Each tragic episode is described in grotesque detail which is clear right from the beginning. The first chapter of the book catapults the reader to the summit of Mt. Everest, moments before the tragic chain of events that made up the disaster begin. The narrative hook is clear within the first couple of paragraphs. The narrator reaches the summit and then shortly after begins his decent where he suffers from a great loss of oxygen. He then looks down the side of the mountain to see a deadly storm building. The first chapter ends with the statement that the storm ahead â€Å"by the end of the day, every minute will count.† There after the author spends time educating the reader of the background of the mountain and events leading up to what happened in the first chapter. Krakauer does a good job of explaining how the highest point on earth was discovered with a short history lesson on Everest. Krakauer writes of the many expeditions that scaled Everest and how over the years the attempts were becoming more for the wealthy egotistical extremists who were in it for the publicity rather than those mountaineers who were in it for the love of the sport. It is this fact that is the reason for the author to join a team to climb Everest. He writes for Outsider magazine and was offered a cheap price to achieve his life goal in return for substantial advertisement in the magazine. Krakauer retells his Everest account in a way that even a person who knows nothing about climbing could understand and follow the story line. He explains the long and detailed process a climber must go through to be able to withstand the scarce oxygen levels. The less wildly known te...

An Ounce of Cure by Alice Munro Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An Ounce of Cure by Alice Munro - Essay Example The author expresses the intensity of immaturity within the character in hr own words which says â€Å"I know I did not wash my face that night – to keep the imprint of those kisses intact† (Munro 17). The girl is unable to control her emotions and is in love with a young man called Martin Collingwood. Sadly this affair leaves her heart broken and depressed. This is evident in the changes in her appearance; she was turning pale for which her mother had to provide iron pills. Being a mature adult her mother was not much bothered to her that Martin has left her because she never felt that it was â€Å"so much for the better. I never saw a boy so stuck on himself† (Munro 17). Obviously the girl is unable to assess people and judged the boy by the sensations he aroused in her through his kisses and presence. After their separation she visits places where she can possibly locate him and is always eager to mention his name during conversations. The narrator herself adm its to this as she says, â€Å"Remember all the stupid, sad, half-ashamed things†¦that people in love always do† (Munro 17). This is especially true with adolescent love.