This week marks National Child Passenger Safety Week. But officials with the Douglas County Safe Kids Coalition stress that car-seat safety is a year-round concern.

Nine of 10 child-safety seats are improperly installed, said coalition member Maj. Rich Barr of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical.

“Statistics show the highest life loss occurs in vehicle accidents with children,” Barr said. “We need to do our best to protect them.”

That’s why Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical created a partnership with Lawrence Memorial Hospital. For the past year, firefighters and hospital staff offer free car- seat safety checks and installations twice a month.

“We can check to ensure they haven’t been recalled,” Barr said. “Other things we ensure are that they’ve been installed properly and tightly. Many times in haste, everybody trying to get where they need to go car seats are installed loosely.”

It’s not just infants and toddlers who need to be in car seats. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, all children up to 4 feet 9 inches tall or 8 years old should be secured in a properly installed safety seat.

“We never know when we’re going to have a vehicle accident,” Barr said. “Car seats in cars are designed for adults, and therefore the safety belt placement is for adults and not for children.”