Check the Manual

This past week, I joined several others in learning all about child safety seats. At the end of four days we knew many things, the most important of which is…you guessed it, “check the manual.”

This may seem like a dig at our instructors (it’s not) or my being sarcastic (it is). In the end, it’s important because the second most important thing we learned is that none of us can possibly remember everything about every child safety seat and every vehicle. Therefore, the mantra “check the manual.”

Without boring you on details of automatic, emergency, switchable, and “no” retractors, LATCH systems, and airbags (which, interestingly I didn’t know my car had SO MANY!), some of us thought the class was written by the Department of Redundancy Department. After all, if we didn’t know something, we were told to…you betcha, “check the manual.”

Where am I going with this? Well, when’s the last time you looked through your protocols (or standards of care, or whatever they’re called in your service area)? If you don’t remember, it’s probably a good idea to go through them. I’ll bet there’s something in there, no matter how small, that you don’t remember. And that’s okay, because that’s why they exist.

You see, despite what some in this profession may tell you, it’s okay to look things up. Honestly, it’s probably better you do so when you’re not in the heat of a critical call, but sometimes that’s when it’s most important to make absolutely sure you’re not missing something. Hopefully, your service has access to these on a smart device (phone or tablet app) and you’re not digging through a three-ring binder. But even if you are, so what? Taking a minute to be SURE is better than rushing and missing something in the end.

In the end, if there’s any nagging doubts about what you’re supposed to be doing…check the manual.