Seats Aplenty for Precious Cargo : Safety: Trauma Society and the Easter Seal Society hold giveaway of car baby carriers for low-income families at CHOC.

One hundred infant-toddler car seats in a charity offering Saturday morning had already been claimed by eager parents, but Laura Vlasin waited patiently for hours in the clinic lobby with her 10-month-old boy, hopeful that someone might cancel an order.

“I don’t have much to spend, and I really need a car seat,” said the 21-year-old Anaheim woman, eyeing the steady stream of families arriving to pick up their orders. She received one three hours later.

For the fifth year, the Orange County Trauma Society, which seeks to prevent accidental deaths and injuries, and the Easter Seal Society held their annual car seat giveaway for low-income families at Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange.

The event traditionally falls on the Saturday after Valentine’s Day so organizers can urge parents to secure their “young hearts.”

CHOC provided money to buy car seats for the giveaway. The hospital will also begin renting them, joining the Trauma Society, which had been the only rental agency in the county.

“We felt there was a real need to help,” said Agnes Gibson, a CHOC spokeswoman. “We routinely ask parents if they have a car seat when we’re discharging their children (from the hospital), and many of them don’t.”

“This really helps because sometimes we’re barely making it,” said Juan Medina, 25, of Anaheim, who learned about the giveaway when one of his two daughters was in the hospital several weeks ago. He has been enrolled full time for the past six months at Associated Technical College, expects to graduate this week and hopes to find a good-paying job.

Despite the threat of torrential rains, parents arrived steadily Saturday, often with their young children, at the scheduled pace of five every 15 minutes.

Dee Prescott, program manager for the Easter Seal Society, said the demand for seats has skyrocketed. Last year, her group received about 160 calls from parents. This year, there were more than 300 calls.

Prescott said about half of the car seat recipients had been referred from CHOC and 30% from countywide teen parenting programs. Others were alerted by the recent news of three children killed and one critically injured in January traffic accidents, which police say is the highest monthly number in recent history.

Although car seats have been required for children since 1983, many drivers still do not comply, police said. Officials estimate that 30% of drivers neglect to buckle up youngsters while driving on the freeway, and up to 80% fail to do so when driving on local streets.

Julie Wedertz, executive director of the Trauma Society, said 71% of deaths and 66% of injuries of children in traffic collisions could be prevented if parents used child restraints.

“We feel it’s one of the most important prevention programs around,” Prescott said. “It’s just one of the most important things we can do to prevent disabilities.”

At the clinic, parents stopped first at the reception desk by the front door and presented proof of receiving social assistance. They were directed down the corridor to view either a Spanish- or English-language video on how to use car seats.

“Just putting the child in the car seat is not a safety measure,” Prescott said. “Utilizing it safely is.”

The Trauma Society warns parents to anchor a seat firmly to the vehicle, to make sure the child fits snugly in the seat and to position the seat for a child weighing fewer than 20 pounds so the baby faces the rear of the car.

After watching the film, parents left the clinic and were met outside by Garden Grove firefighters, who were donating their time to provide parents with hands-on demonstrations.

Finally, parents picked up their car seats from the stacks in front of a truck and took them to their cars to try them themselves.

The giveaway “is wonderful for people who are low-income, especially with the recession,” said Aileen Ramirez of Anaheim, watching her husband fit the seat into their car. “I wouldn’t have been able to buy one myself.”