MONROE - It was a fatal car crash Beth Kindschi encountered in her work as a nurse that turned her on to child passenger safety more than 40 years ago.
At the time, Kindschi was working at a naval hospital north of Chicago when an infant girl arrived for an evaluation.
The little girl, no more than eight weeks old, flew out of the VW Bug her parents had driven underneath a semi trailer. Both parents died. The girl survived.
"She and the carseat flew together, and she was saved. They found her hanging upside down in a cornfield," still in her carseat, Kindschi remembers.
The experience led to Kindschi's lifelong work as an advocate for child safety, particularly for child passenger safety. She retired last month at age 68 after decades of leading Monroe Area Safe Kids, an initiative she started to educate and help parents keep their kids safe. The program also gives away carseats, among other safety-related supplies, to parents in need.
The Green County Health Department honored Kindschi earlier in November for her 30-plus years in the volunteer position. Occasionally a few grants allowed her to be paid, she said, but mostly the position was "salary-free."
"That's what makes it so hard to replace me," she said.
Well, that and the three decades of expertise she's amassed over the years.
RoAnn Warden, head of the Health Department, calls Kindschi a "pioneer" of child passenger safety throughout Wisconsin. In 2006, the Wisconsin Information Network for Safety and Wisconsin Child Passenger Safety Association named an award in honor of Kindschi.
"I started doing child passenger safety in the 1960s, way before it was the thing to do," Kindschi said. "I remember grandmothers complaining that it was cruel to send the baby home in a plastic box."
Since then, "the whole generation has changed."
Now the accepted philosophy is that children should sit in rear-facing carseats through the age of three. This transfers the immense force of a crash from the straps on a baby's chest to evenly distribute the force from behind.
Kindschi's equation for measuring pressure is the weight of the child multiplied by the speed of the car. For a 10-pound baby in a crash at 30 mph, this amounts to 300 pounds of pressure.
Shopping for a carseat can be intimidating. Carseats range in price from $40 to $999, and there are 275 different models on the market at any given time, according to Kindschi.
She cautions against getting caught up in the price. They all meet safety regulations, so the choice comes down to convenience, she said. A parent could buy a state-of-the-art carseat, but it's useless if not used correctly.
"The best car seat is the one that fits your car, fits your kid and that you'll use properly every time the car moves," she said.
Kindschi's carseat expertise is recognized in the field to the extent that she's occasionally called in for crash scene investigations. Manufacturers have also asked her to review their products before they hit the market.
"I've seen some really cool technology that never makes it into a store," she said.
Child passenger safety isn't the only issue Kindschi has addressed at Monroe Area Safe Kids. One of her recent projects is to educate parents about CR2032 batteries and the danger they pose to anyone who swallows them.
"They're covered with silicon, so they go down real easy," she said. "The problem is, they melt in just a matter of a few hours."
She's also been working on educating coaches about student athlete concussions and dehydration, as well as talking with both kids and parents about distracted driving and, a new development, "distracted parenting."
So many parents are "married to their phones," and it takes their attention away from watching their kids," she said.
In her retirement she's planning to travel more with her husband, Jud Kindschi, and spend time with her four adult children and seven grandkids - the youngest was born on Oct. 11, or 10-11-12, a numerical sign of good luck.
Until someone is found to replace her, she's looking after Monroe Area Safe Kids to keep it running smoothly.
There will always be an endless supply of new safety issues to address, she added. Often she said her work feels "like watching a snowball go down hill."
At the time, Kindschi was working at a naval hospital north of Chicago when an infant girl arrived for an evaluation.
The little girl, no more than eight weeks old, flew out of the VW Bug her parents had driven underneath a semi trailer. Both parents died. The girl survived.
"She and the carseat flew together, and she was saved. They found her hanging upside down in a cornfield," still in her carseat, Kindschi remembers.
The experience led to Kindschi's lifelong work as an advocate for child safety, particularly for child passenger safety. She retired last month at age 68 after decades of leading Monroe Area Safe Kids, an initiative she started to educate and help parents keep their kids safe. The program also gives away carseats, among other safety-related supplies, to parents in need.
The Green County Health Department honored Kindschi earlier in November for her 30-plus years in the volunteer position. Occasionally a few grants allowed her to be paid, she said, but mostly the position was "salary-free."
"That's what makes it so hard to replace me," she said.
Well, that and the three decades of expertise she's amassed over the years.
RoAnn Warden, head of the Health Department, calls Kindschi a "pioneer" of child passenger safety throughout Wisconsin. In 2006, the Wisconsin Information Network for Safety and Wisconsin Child Passenger Safety Association named an award in honor of Kindschi.
"I started doing child passenger safety in the 1960s, way before it was the thing to do," Kindschi said. "I remember grandmothers complaining that it was cruel to send the baby home in a plastic box."
Since then, "the whole generation has changed."
Now the accepted philosophy is that children should sit in rear-facing carseats through the age of three. This transfers the immense force of a crash from the straps on a baby's chest to evenly distribute the force from behind.
Kindschi's equation for measuring pressure is the weight of the child multiplied by the speed of the car. For a 10-pound baby in a crash at 30 mph, this amounts to 300 pounds of pressure.
Shopping for a carseat can be intimidating. Carseats range in price from $40 to $999, and there are 275 different models on the market at any given time, according to Kindschi.
She cautions against getting caught up in the price. They all meet safety regulations, so the choice comes down to convenience, she said. A parent could buy a state-of-the-art carseat, but it's useless if not used correctly.
"The best car seat is the one that fits your car, fits your kid and that you'll use properly every time the car moves," she said.
Kindschi's carseat expertise is recognized in the field to the extent that she's occasionally called in for crash scene investigations. Manufacturers have also asked her to review their products before they hit the market.
"I've seen some really cool technology that never makes it into a store," she said.
Child passenger safety isn't the only issue Kindschi has addressed at Monroe Area Safe Kids. One of her recent projects is to educate parents about CR2032 batteries and the danger they pose to anyone who swallows them.
"They're covered with silicon, so they go down real easy," she said. "The problem is, they melt in just a matter of a few hours."
She's also been working on educating coaches about student athlete concussions and dehydration, as well as talking with both kids and parents about distracted driving and, a new development, "distracted parenting."
So many parents are "married to their phones," and it takes their attention away from watching their kids," she said.
In her retirement she's planning to travel more with her husband, Jud Kindschi, and spend time with her four adult children and seven grandkids - the youngest was born on Oct. 11, or 10-11-12, a numerical sign of good luck.
Until someone is found to replace her, she's looking after Monroe Area Safe Kids to keep it running smoothly.
There will always be an endless supply of new safety issues to address, she added. Often she said her work feels "like watching a snowball go down hill."