Free Car Seat ID Program

The WHALE™ Program: “We Have a Little Emergency”

Every year, very young children are involved in automobile accidents. They may be riding with parents, grandparents, day care providers or others. If the adult in the vehicle is seriously injured or unable to talk, emergency responders have no easy way of identifying the child. The WHALE Program can help.

WHALE stands for “We Have A Little Emergency.” It’s an identification program started in the 1990s by a child caregiver on the East Coast who wondered what would happen to the children in her care in the event of a car accident. Emergency personnel in 34 states now recognize and use the program.

WHALE at Swedish

In 1999, Swedish began working with law enforcement and other emergency personnel to put the WHALE Program into action. Since then, more than 40,000 WHALE kits have been distributed in Washington.
Similar to other emergency rescue programs, WHALE uses stickers on a vehicle’s windows and car seat to alert rescue workers to look on the back of the car seat for the child’s:
• Name
• Date of birth
• Medical history
• Emergency contacts

Free WHALE Kits at Swedish

Swedish provides free WHALE kits for parents and others who regularly travel with a child age 4 or younger. The kits include an information label and holder for the back of a car seat, and WHALE safety stickers for the sides of the car seat and vehicle windows.

For your free WHALE kit, contact The Lytle Center for Pregnancy and Newborns at 206-215-9853.

For more information about child car seat safety, please visit www.safercar.gov/parents/index.htm.