JAY — June Turcotte checked 2-year-old Regan’s car seat to make sure it was safely secured in the back seat of her mother Courtney Nightingale’s SUV.

Nightingale watched how Turcotte did it.

Turcotte is a child passenger safety seat technician at Central Maine Medical Center Trauma Program in Lewiston. She visited the Jay Early Learning Center, a Head Start program, Tuesday to educate parents on child passenger safety.

Turcotte had shown a video to parents and answered questions inside the center before going outside to inspect car seats in vehicles of those who wanted her to do so.

Turcotte tightened up the straps of Regan’s car seat that anchored the bottom of it to the back seat. She moved the seat from side-to-side and it budged some.

“For me it is still too loose,” Turcotte said. She secured it showing Nightingale how to do it. She also untwisted some restraint system straps.

Nightingale climbed into the back of the SUV to correctly attach the tether to the top anchor for the top part of the seat as Turcotte directed. Both women worked on it to get it right.

With three children, Nightingale said she chose a bigger vehicle than a car.
“I needed something with plenty of seating,” she said.

Once the seat was secure, Turcotte moved to the other side of the SUV to inspect 5-year-old Libby’s seat.

After Nightingale answered some questions, Turcotte concluded that Libby at 47 pounds was over the 40-pound recommended limit of the seat.

“I will definitely be getting a new seat,” Nightingale said.

Turcotte had told parents if they had MaineCare coverage they would qualify for a free new child safety seat. Nightingale said she planned to call Turcotte to set up an appointment.

Turcotte’s assistance was very helpful, Nightingale said.

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