CHAD Gives Children an Identity

By Andrea Duckworth

Some of you may or may not be aware of a special program called CHAD that many of the child passenger safety advocates here in Delaware have been promoting. I'd like to outline the program for you and encourage you to share it with parents, grandparents, child-care providers and your colleagues.

The CHAD program involves the distribution of informational stickers, which can identify children involved in traffic crashes, and should be placed on the side of child safety seats. CHAD stands for Children Have An Identity. The program was launched in Illinois in 1992, as a result of a traffic crash involving a 13-month old boy.

The child's sitter, who had been driving, was killed and the boy, named Chad, was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. The toddler had to wait for more than an hour for treatment, because hospital officials were unable to identify him until a family friend happened to walk by his gurney. Later, Chad's parents teamed up with the Illinois Department of Transportation to produce the CHAD Sticker so that this nightmare would not happen to other families.

Parents should fill out the information requested on these stickers and place them on the back, or door side of the child's safety seat. (They should make sure that the information on the sticker cannot be read from outside the car if placed on the door-side of the car seat.) If the child is involved in a crash where the driver, who may or may not be the child's parent, is unable to tell emergency responders who the child is, those responders can look for the sticker with potentially life-saving information.

Please share this information with everyone you encounter. If you would like CHAD stickers please contact  Cindy Genau at 302-831-4973. CHAD stickers are available in English and Spanish.

Cindy Genau | NCC Home

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