National Backpack Safety Awareness Program

The Congress of Chiropractic State Associations launched National Backpack Safety Awareness in 2002 in response to research reports that a majority of today's students are carrying more than the recommended weight levels in their bacpacks and sustaining significant injury that can last a lifetime. Over the years, the program has been well received by chiropractic state associations, doctors of chiropractic, schools, corporations, and the general public. Even the media responded favorably with the program being sited in an article published in the Wall Street Journal.

The purpose of the program is to educate students, parents and teachers about the health issues associated with heavy backpacks and teach ways to carry backpacks correctly to prevent injury. The program is targeted at students in the 5^th grade (or the oldest level of elementary school) who will be transitioning to lockers and are required to carry more books and heavier loads throughout the day. While the program can be executed year-round, April is designated as National Backpack Safety Month and serves as the kick-off event for the program each year. It is hoped that by focusing attention on this problem in April and during Correct Posture Month in May, we can educate students and parents and plant the seeds of knowledge to influence better decisions during the following school year to purchase an ergonomic backpack like those manufactured by AirPacks and distributed through Core Products.

Core Products, the distributor of AirPacks backpacks to the healthcare industry, is the program’s primary corporate sponsor. According to Core President Phil Mattison, "Core Products is delighted to participate in the Backpack Safety program as we consider it essential to increase public awareness of the various factors contributing to backpack injury among children as well as to provide education on how to best fit the ergonomically designed Airpacks for the prevention of back injury. Our focus is on self-help. Prevention is the best option for taking better care of ourselves and that's what the AirPacks system offers: a way to prevent these injuries before they occur."

The patented AirPacks System technology, which is endorsed by the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations, uses air to transfer weight carried in a backpack from the neck and shoulders to the lower back. The system has been proven to reduce stress to the user’s body by 80%, the effective load by at least 30%, and spinal pain created by carrying a heavy backpack by 50%. It reduces compressional loading of the acromio-clavicular joints and stress on the trapezius muscles, and the biomechanical design reduces the risk of impingement problems. For information on Core Products or AirPacks Backpacks, visit http://www.coreproducts.com/safetykit/.