CPS Advocates place Service above Self to make Kids Safer
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 25, 2011, 0 Comments
LAREDO – It was an amazing day and a lot of good was done at the Child Passenger Safety (CPS) seat inspection event held at the TxDOT district office. Very rough estimates indicate that anywhere from 50 to 75 little Laredoans are now safer in car seats on Laredo city streets and Texas highways because several agencies and their volunteers chose to place Service above Self.
Children are safer on Webb County streets now because of this event, also mirrored Isidro R. Alaniz, Jr., District Attorneys for Webb and Zapata counties. Official tallies on the number of seats inspected and a full photo recap will be forthcoming on Monday.
To be commended are the Honorable Isidro R. Alaniz, Jr., District Attorneys for Webb and Zapata counties, and the Honorable Rosie Cuellar-Castillo and the many, many volunteers from each agency represented who interacted with and helped parents and children at the event.
Participating agencies were the District Attorney Office for Webb and Zapata Counties , the City of Laredo Municipal Court , Doctors Hospital of Laredo , Laredo Fire Department, Laredo Police Department , Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Department of State Health Service Safe Riders, Texas Department of Transportation and the Webb County Sheriff Department.
The District Attorneys office provided numerous volunteers who assisted with assorted tasks and duties. Huggy Bear, their drug stay-free mascot, who made a special appearance for the benefit of parents and children alike.
The City of Laredo Municipal Court brought BRAD, their new traffic safety mascot, who taught children about traffic safety using instructional materials and props. BRAD stands for BRAD is an acronym for Buckle Up, Read signs and signals, And Drive with caution.
Doctors Hospital of Laredo assisted the event with a registered nurse/CPS technician and administrative staff who lent support during the event.
The Laredo Fire Department provided numerous cadets in training and their supervisors who lent their assistance as CPS scribes (documenting vital participant information) enabling CPS technicians to perform seat inspections more effectively, thus conducting more inspections within the events allotted four-hour time span.
The Laredo Police Department provided traffic control for event as well as three officers who are also CPS technicians.
Frank Luera, a CPS instructor and senior CPS checker of the Texas Department of State Health Services (Austin) oversaw and approved all inspections. have never seen this level of commitment in the entire state, said Luera.
The Texas Department of Transportation assisted with three CPS technicians and support staff who helped with car seat installations.
The Webb County Sheriff Department provided traffic control for the event.
Last but not least, a volunteer corp of high school students from various high schools assisted with child care and assorted tasks at the event.
The group of multi-agency, certified Child Passenger Safety technicians who assisted today includes Christina Elizondo, R.N. (Doctors Hospital); Firefighters/EMS technicians Mark Martinez and John Flores (LFD); Officers Claire Pruneda, Jerry Gonzalez and Luis Gutierrez (LPD); Frank Luera (TxDSHS Safe Riders), and Blanca Treviño-Castro, Mirelda Cavazos and John Charles (TxDOT).
