Public Health – Seattle & King County is hosting a free child car seat check-up event in Bellevue on July 19.

The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Eastgate Public Health Center, 14350 SE Eastgate Way.

Parents should bring their car, car seat and child and learn how to properly install your car seat.

Parents and caregivers will have their child safety seat checked by a certified child safety seat technician for safe installation; soon-to-be parents/caregivers welcome as well. Educational materials will also be on hand.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping children up to two years old in rear facing seats or until they have reached the maximum height and weight limits of the car seat, as allowed by the manufacturer.

Child safety seats reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants younger than one year old and by 54 percent for toddlers in passenger cars, according to national research.

By one estimate (2009), 309 lives were saved nationally by child safety seat use.

For more information about the Public Health sponsored events, contact Alan Abe, King County Emergency Medical Services Division, at 206-263-8544.