Stickers help parents ‘check the back seat’
Police officer designs stickers to remind parents about child passengers
TREDYFFRIN » An officer thinking like a cop and a parent is helping others to be aware of the dangers of leaving a child unattended inside a vehicle, which can cause pediatric vehicular heatstroke and lead to death.
An average of 37 children die in the U.S. each year from being left in a hot unattended vehicle, according to the National Safety Council.
Tredyffrin police want to help prevent that from happening.
“It’s avoidable,” said Tredyffrin Officer Mike Cermignano, “even one is too many.”
Cermignano created a sticker for parents, guardians and others to place in their vehicle as a reminder to remove children from the back seat when exiting.
“It’s something I would obviously never want to see happen to my family, or any family, including here in our own community,” Cermignano said about the death of a child. “This is the kind of thing where it’s impossible to know if (the stickers) ‘make a difference’ or will ever, but if it helps prevent one tragedy, or at least reminds people it’s possible, then we’ve done our jobs as cops.”
He says they would also be doing their job as parents too because most of the township police officers are parents. Some are about to have another child while others are soon to be firsttime parents.
The idea for the sticker began as a personal one for Cermignano, who recently became a father. Cermignano and his wife welcomed their son into the world less than two months ago. Hearing about parents’ worst nightmare of losing a child hits close to home, especially with now raising his own child.
“I see these stories on the news about people forgetting their babies in their cars and it absolutely devastates me,” Cermignano said.
With the windows up when it is 90 degrees, the interior of a vehicle can heat up to 160 degrees within minutes. It takes about 10 minutes for the temperature in a car to rise 20 degrees. People and pets should not be left in a closed car.
“There is absolutely no excuse for it, and a lot of people wonder how it could ever happen,” Cermignano said. “There are absolutely cases where it’s a result of negligence or indifference. There are also many cases where it happens because of a tragic mistake.”
Such a tragic mistake or miscommunication in a lot of cases results from one parent or a grandparent thinking the other took the baby out of the car, he explained. It has happened, especially with first-time parents or grandparents, or by people who are helping the primary caregivers.
He added that people may forget to get their baby out of the backseat if they are sleep-deprived or rotating the baby between caregivers, for example. Cermignano has given this some thought because his son will be rotating between three vehicles with help from relatives.
“It gave me the idea to make a little reminder to always check the back before we get out to be 100-percent sure someone has him,” Cermignano said. “It was something originally I wanted to do for our family, and then figured it may be something that could be helpful to a lot of parents, particularly new parents or grandparents.”
The sticker states, “Stop! Before you leave, check your back seat!”
He created the design and pitched it to Police Chief Michael Beaty, who approved it.
Cermignano visited NuPrint Solutions in Paoli to print the design and get a price check. Chris Lackro, of NuPrint Solutions, helped Cermignano perfect the design, which includes two handprints representing a parent and child. Cermignano was prepared to pay for the order when Lackro donated 1,000 stickers to the police to hand out to people and remind them of the safety message.
Residents can stop by the front desk of the Tredyffrin Township Police Department, or visit the local fire companies, Berwyn and Paoli, for a free sticker to display in their vehicle.
Tredyffrin police are also carrying stickers with them while on patrol to offer them to drivers with little passengers in the backseat.