The Qatar National Child Passenger Safety Program ‘Ghalai’ has seen some important developments within the recent months including the launch of a unique certification program for technicians.
The Qatar National Child Passenger Safety Certification Training Program which certifies people as child passenger safety technicians and instructors has been launched as part of ‘Ghalai’, said Dr Khalid Abdulnoor Saifeldeen, Director, Hamad International Training Centre (HITC) at Hamad Medical Corporation and Chairman of Ghalai Program. More than 60 technicians have been certified since the launch of the new program.
“Since we launched ‘Ghalai’ in March, we have seen a number of positive developments. The launch of a first of its kind Qatar National Child Passenger Safety Certification Training Program is very important achievement. It is the only child passenger safety certification training program, which provides online modules and one on one lessons,” he told The Peninsula.
“We provide a mix of education and skills for parents, caregivers and others on how to choose, install and safely secure children of all ages in car and other vehicles. We are also involved in promoting awareness on the importance on the use of child car seats in general,” he added.
‘Ghalai’ initiative, launched by the Ministry of Public Health, aims at creating awareness about the importance of using child passenger seats among parents. The initiative is a collaboration between several governmental and private institutions.
The first Ghalai station at the Women’s Wellness and Research Centre (WWRC), is staffed by trained Passenger Safety Technicians and they help parents fit child safety seats in their car. It is operated and overseen by the HITC.
“We have reached out to many pregnant women and new mothers. We do send our technicians to meet the new mothers before discharge from the hospital. We educate them, share information, schedule them an appointment to come and see us. Meantime we also offer home visits,” said Dr Saifeldeen.
“Many people have volunteered to follow the child passenger safety certification training programme. They come from hospitals, health departments, emergency department and automobile industry. Many technicians are also parents and volunteers, but they all have one thing in common: They care deeply about kids and want to make sure they are safe,” said Dr. Khalid Abdulnoor Saifeldeen, Director, Hamad International Training Centre (HITC) at Hamad Medical Corporation and Chairman of Ghalai Program.
Dr. Saifeldeen also said that child passenger car seat sellers have shown a great interest and some of them have agreed on giving discount rates for their products.
He also said that plans are under way to open a new Ghalai station at Sidra Medicine. “We are also planning to have our technicians supporting other HMC’s hospitals in such as Al Wakrah, Cuban Hospital and Al Khor Hospital. We are also keen to support private hospitals too,” he added.
The ‘Ghalai’ initiative is said to be the first step towards introducing a law making the use of child passenger seats compulsory.
The most common cause of improper child car seat use include ignoring the manufacturer’s instructions for installation; not following the correct directions for the child’s age, weight, mental, and physical development; installing the seat too loosely; not tightening the harness straps properly; and failing to use all of the harnesses available to properly secure a child into the correct position.
