WHALE of a deal: Safety seat stickers give officers name, health info

By PAUL STONE
The Palestine Herald

July 01, 2009 10:22 pm

— The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office is offering free car seat safety kits designed to provide rescue personnel with needed information in the event of an emergency.
The WHALE (We Have A Little Emergency) program is a child safety seat identification program which 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 often have a difficult time identifying children riding in car safety seats. In some situations, the adults may not be related to the child passenger, making conventional means of obtaining information useless.
In these cases, the WHALE program can make a significant difference, according to Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor.
“It’s a good program,” Taylor said. “I think it will help us better care for small children. This surely could save lives in certain situations.”
In Texas, children under 5 and less than 36 inches in height must be seated and harnessed in an approved child safety seat when riding in a car.
The WHALE 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, including name, date of birth, medical history and who to contact in the event of an emergency. The label is placed on the back of the car seat so it does not compromise the privacy of this information.
(2) Two WHALE Car Seat Stickers are attached to the sides of the seat.
(3) Two WHALE Vehicle Stickers are attached to the rear/side windows of the vehicle. Each of these stickers depicts the WHALE logo and will alert emergency personnel that the occupants participate in the program.
Taylor said he has met with representatives of the county and city fire departments, local First Responders, Emergency Medical Services and the Texas Department of Public Safety concerning the new program.
The kits, which are being funded by the county’s DARE program, are currently available at the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.
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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com