DOHA: Hamad International Training Centre (HITC) held a training course on the safe transport of children with special needs.
Part of the successful Child Passenger Safety Training (CPST) at HITC, the course was designed to help families of special needs children to find safe and practical solutions to keep their children safe in cars.
The two-day course was conducted by Professor Marilyn Bull and her assistant, Jason Skinner from the National Centre for Safe Transportation of Children with Special Healthcare Needs in the US.
It was attended by healthcare workers trained by HITC/Kulluna to be child passenger safety technicians (CPSTs) and working with children with special needs and their families. “Some children have special requirements which prevent them from fitting into an ordinary car seat safely,” said Dr Khalid Abdulnoor Saifeldeen, Director, HITC.
HITC has bought specialised car seats that can accommodate a range of physical and behavioural issues that can be used in family vehicles, school buses or ambulances. The seats cater for all ages from newborn to young adults.
“The course included lectures, workshops and practical exercises using real cars and special car seats. On the second day, some families with special needs children joined the course to receive specific help and advice on keeping their children safely and appropriately restrained in their cars,” Dr Saifeldeen said. He said it was the first time the course had been conducted in the region. “HITC is delighted that we will now be able to give parents, families and caregivers advice and support for keeping all children in Qatar safe when being transported in a car,” he said.
Gary Sykes, President, ConocoPhillips Qatar, said: “Safety is the core value at ConocoPhillips and as founding sponsor, we are glad to see Kulluna’s CPST taking it to another level, reaching out to all parents in the community and making sure more children are safe.” The CPST initiative was launched in 2013 in partnership with HITC and Safe Kids Worldwide and under the umbrella of Kulluna, with support from ConocoPhillips.
The Peninsula
