Describing the Buckle Up program efforts to support child well-being in Oklahoma : exploring potential connections between child motor vehicle injuries, fatalities, certification status, and Buckle Up events.

Abstract

In 1997 Safe Kids Worldwide and General Motors Corporation founded the Buckle Up program. The program trains and certifies individuals to become service providers whose job is to obtain the knowledge and skills on the proper techniques to install safety seats for children, and how to share that knowledge with families. Buckle Up is an important program since the leading cause of death among children ages 2 to 14 is in a motor vehicle crash. Trainings, car seat checkup events, and advocacy influence the way the environment affects child passenger safety. Advocacy opens the doors for strengthening the need to update laws since motor vehicle crashes continue to lead as a primary cause of death in children. The research will take a descriptive approach to review and compile available data to determine any associations between the Buckle Up program and the number of injuries and fatalities in Oklahoma between 2007 and 2011. Research will also utilize Urie Bronfenbrenner's Human Ecology Theory to examine hoe the Buckle Up program has been involved in the environment. Data were collected and reviewed by a Child Passenger Safety Technician and Instructor, active in the field since 2007. The analysis was made from a non-biased perspective with interest in understanding how educational efforts were contributing to the Oklahoma child occupant outcomes.