My name is Jamie Wallace. I was a career firefighter/EMT for 13 years and a captain/EMT for 7 years.

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I have also been a certified car seat technician for 15 years. While checking car seats, I would constantly tell parents not to put their children in the car seat while wearing a heavy winter coat because it isn’t safe.

Certified car seat technicians and medical professionals believe it is extremely dangerous for children to wear heavy winter coats while riding in a car seat with a five-point harness. Safe Kids Worldwide advises that “a bulky coat can compress in a crash and create a loose car seat harness, putting your child at greater risk of injury in the unlikely event of a crash”.

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The safest procedure was to remove my children’s winter coats in the cold, secure them in a cold car seat and then cover them back up. This was very uncomfortable for the kids and very inconvenient for me.