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National Car Seat Call CenterServing the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories of Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico.
For assistance 24/7, call 323-491-6197 |
Welcome to the National Car Seat Call Center
If you have questions about your car seat or need immediate assistance, the National Car Seat Call Center has Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians (CPST) and Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES) available to help. We are available 24/7 to:
The Call Center is a certified Car Seat Inspection Station by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). We assist anyone with their car seat or booster seat and specialize in supporting expectant parents, new parents, and children in Spica casts — whether virtually or in person. Our virtual telehealth approach has been published and are shown to be just as effective as in-person sessions. Our educational approach remains the same whether we are with you in person or teaching virtually. We use behavioral skills training techniques to help you learn complex skills more easily, ensuring your child’s safety during car seat installation and restraint.
Our goal is to educate and empower you as a parent or caregiver to confidently install, test, and use your car seat correctly, always keeping your child's safety in mind. The virtual telehealth service started in 2018, in response to parents who experienced early delivery, were discharged from the hospital, and could not find a CPST to assist them.
For immediate assistance 24/7 across the continental United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories such as Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico, please call: 323-491-6197.
- Answer your car seat questions, or
- Teach you how to install your car seat correctly and restrain your child properly.
The Call Center is a certified Car Seat Inspection Station by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). We assist anyone with their car seat or booster seat and specialize in supporting expectant parents, new parents, and children in Spica casts — whether virtually or in person. Our virtual telehealth approach has been published and are shown to be just as effective as in-person sessions. Our educational approach remains the same whether we are with you in person or teaching virtually. We use behavioral skills training techniques to help you learn complex skills more easily, ensuring your child’s safety during car seat installation and restraint.
Our goal is to educate and empower you as a parent or caregiver to confidently install, test, and use your car seat correctly, always keeping your child's safety in mind. The virtual telehealth service started in 2018, in response to parents who experienced early delivery, were discharged from the hospital, and could not find a CPST to assist them.
For immediate assistance 24/7 across the continental United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories such as Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico, please call: 323-491-6197.
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How effective is the virtual telehealth approach?
Background on Our Program for Expecting Parents, Pregnant Women, Parents, and Caregivers
Our program is designed to support you in ensuring your child's safety by teaching proper car seat installation and restraint techniques. We use a Behavioral Skills Training (BST) approach, which is effective whether delivered in person or virtually. This method involves guiding you step-by-step with your car seat, helping you learn the skills needed to install it correctly and secure your child safely. The educational content remains consistent across both formats, making virtual sessions just as effective as in-person instruction. Research conducted as part of California’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) shows that virtual teaching via telehealth is just as successful as in-person training. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a study comparing our telehealth approach to traditional in-person sessions found a 97% reduction in car seat installation errors and a 96% improvement in securing your child properly in their car seat (DeCarli J, 2021). Car seat misuse is a widespread problem, with about 96% of car seats being installed or used incorrectly, which significantly increases the risk of injury or death (Bachman et al., 2016). Sadly, 95% of newborns leaving the hospital on their first ride home are in car seats that are not properly installed or used (Hoffman et al., 2016). Our goal is to empower you—whether you are expecting, new to parenting, or caring for a child—to confidently install and use your car seat correctly. Teaching remotely not only provides effective learning but also reduces the risk of infectious disease transmission, ensuring a safe environment for you and your family. |
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Reduces disease risk to your newborn babyThe National Telehealth Car Seat Call Center can help both expectant parents and their baby safe by reducing infectious disease transmission risk (including COVID-19) exposure by 100%. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) continues to recommend that both expectant parents and current parents take extra precaution as a result of the COVID-19 risk to newborns and the expectant mother.
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Reduces disease risk during pregnancyA special note to expectant parents, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the telehealth approach provided a safe and effective approach to deliver educational services while reducing your risk for exposure to any infectious disease.
While the Global Public Health Emergency has ended, the risk of COVID-19 and other infections continue, especially among women who are pregnant. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has updated guidelines and recommends preventive measures, including limiting exposure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and peer-reviewed studies suggest that women who are pregnant, once infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, are at a greater risk of severe illness, including preeclampsia, infections, admission to hospital intensive care unit and death of the mother, including the risk of poor health outcomes for the baby (Allotey, et al., 2020; Brandt, Hill, Reddy, et al., 2021; DeBolt, Bianco, Limaya, et al, 2021; Galang, Newton, Woodworth, et al., 2021; Ko, DeSisto, Simeone, et al., 2021; Zambrano, Ellingron, Strid, et al., 2020). |
Research and Background
The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center (NTRCP) recognizes Telehealth as a variety of communication technologies used to enhance healthcare and education delivery. We began the car seat virtual Telehealth approach in 2018, to accommodate new parents who delivered their baby sooner than expected and needed immediate car seat help at discharge from the hospital or birthing center. We scientifically confirmed the effectiveness of this method, as part of the Occupant Protection section of the 2014-2019 California Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). Currently, in the 2020-2024 SHSP, we are studying similar approaches to improve child passenger safety education. The remote telehealth method of delivering car seat education using behavioral skills training for each individual parent-session, is no different than if we were with you in-person.
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The National Telehealth Car Seat Call Center (NTCSCC) sessions are performed by a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician and a Master Certified Health Education Specialist of the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc.
The Call Center is an evidence-based approach to reduce misuse by contributing to the National Roadway Safety Strategy by utilizing a Safe System Approach to reach Zero Deaths by incorporating Behavioral Skills Training (BST) and CDC CORE Equity Strategy.
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Copyright 2024 * The National Telehealth Car Seat Call Center is sponsored by Pro Car Seat Safety, a program of Pro Consumer Safety
