Motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 killer of kids. Why? In many cases, children are either not properly buckled into their safety seats or parents don’t realize that a booster seat is vital to ensuring children fit safely in their vehicle’s seat belt. Don’t take a chance. Children may be riding in a vehicle with parents, grandparents, daycare providers or others. In an accident, if the adult in the vehicle is seriously injured or unable to talk, those responding to the emergency have no easy way of identifying the child. The W.H.A.L.E.™ Program is intended to give parents (or other caregivers) the the voice and tools to help emergency rescue efforts go more smoothly.

W.H.A.L.E.™ stands for “We Have A Little Emergency.” This car seat safety program was developed by Connie Day, a caregiver from Virginia. In the event of an automobile accident that incapacitates the adult driver and passengers, rescue personnel will have a difficult time identifying children riding in car safety seats. In some situations, these adults may not be related to the child passenger; therefore, conventional means of obtaining information will be useless. In these cases, W.H.A.L.E.™ can make a significant difference.

Most laws require that all youngsters under 4 years of age or up to 40 pounds must be seated and harnessed in an approved child safety seat when riding in a car. Now that same child safety seat can provide vital information about its young occupant in the unfortunate event that the driver of the car is incapacitated in a car accident. W.H.A.L.E.™ stickers are placed on both rear side windows of the car and on both sides of the child safety seat so that emergency personnel will know immediately that there is vital information pertaining to the child on the back of the car seat. The W.H.A.L.E.™ car sticker contains the child's name, medical history, names and telephone numbers of two guardians and up to three other emergency names and telephone numbers.

The program consists of three parts:

1. An Information Label is attached to the back of the car seat, which provides important information about the child, such as name, date of birth, medical history and who to contact in case of emergency. The label is placed on the back of the car seat where it is not visible from outside the vehicle. This ensures the privacy of this personal information.

2. Two W.H.A.L.E™ Car Seat Stickers are attached to the sides of the seat.

3. Two W.H.A.L.E™ Vehicle Stickers are attached to the rear/side windows of the vehicle. Each of these stickers depicts the W.H.A.L.E™ logo and will alert emergency personnel that the occupants participate in the program.

For kits and information contact

Sgt. Thomas Jedic

908-322-5000 ext. 151

With the help of the Quick Chek, 572 North Avenue, the Fanwood Police have opened a public safety info booth. The booth is full of helpful safety materials, handouts, pamphlets and children’s activity books. All of the materials are free of charge. The site will also host scheduled events from time to time. Plans to conduct children’s fingerprinting, bike rodeos, child safety seat inspections and much more will soon be announced.

Stop by and check out the materials on display, for questions, comments and suggestions….contact Fanwoodcommpolicing@yahoo.com