CRANBERRY TWP — A program that promotes infant safety is on the upswing in the township.

Ken Fessides, deputy director of Cranberry Township Emergency Medical Services, said the Safe Landing program offered by the agency has increased in popularity since Highmark began reimbursing its clients for the $150 program fee.

In Safe Landing, Fessides or one of three other Cranberry EMS paramedics trained in the program, provides a four-hour in-home visit for expectant or new parents to educate them on ways to provide a healthy environment for their babies.

Thanks to a grant by Alcoa, Fessides said those who meet the federal low-income standards can schedule the program at no cost.

Parents can invite friends, neighbors and relatives who will be around the baby to attend the program.

Fessides said the first hour is spent on car seat safety, including how to install and operate it, and how to tell if it remains on the state Department of Transportation’s approved car seat list or is expired.

He said up to three car seats can be checked for proper installation in the program.

The second and third hours are spent teaching up to 12 attendees how to do CPR on an infant, child and adult, Fessides said.

“We think it’s important that you know how to do it at any age range,” Fessides said.

He said the Cranberry EMS conducted a handful of Safe Landing visits in 2013 and 2014, but already has had six home visits this year.

“We are picking up so much steam now that Highmark has bought in,” Fessides said.

He said EMS started the program in 2013 because of the trend toward “community paramedicine” in the past few years.

“It’s more about prevention than treatment,” he said.

EMS also offers wellness checks for senior citizens in which a paramedic checks vital signs, weight and medications or sets up medical appointments for seniors.

“We talk to them,” Fessides said. “It’s a social visit with a medical component.”

He said both the Safe Landing and senior wellness checks can be done within 30 miles of the township.

Melinda Caldwell attended a Safe Landing visit in June that was set up by her son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Jennifer Penrod.

Caldwell said even though she is a registered nurse, she got important information at the visit. Of particular interest to Caldwell were the lessons on proper installation and use of a car seat.

When 40-year-old Michael Penrod was a baby, Caldwell recalled, his car seat fit over the seat back using small hooks.

“It had a little seat belt with it, but Michael — no matter what you did, he would get out of it,” she said. “There was no safety there.”

She also learned the extra mirrors and window shades expectant parents use in vehicles are not recommended because they can become projectiles in a crash.

Crib safety also is vastly different since Michael was a baby because bumper pads, blankets and pillows are now considered suffocation risks.

“It’s a wonder any of our kids survived,” Caldwell said.

She hopes the Safe Landing program grows even more so it could save the lives of babies yet unborn.

“I highly recommend them giving that program out to as many people as possible,” Caldwell said.

Township manager Jerry Andree said the Safe Landing and senior wellness programs represent the caliber of work done every day by the ambulance service.

“It’s indicative of the professionalism of Cranberry Township EMS,” Andree said. “They are always staying abreast of community needs.”