Your Babysitter/Nanny is trained – be sure that YOU are, also!

By October 25, 2014Blog

I wish my BABYSITTER or NANNY was here!

After all, in an emergency situation, you’ve hired people trained in CPR to care for your children.    They know how to respond to your child choking, right?   Good for you!     Your Babysitter/Nanny has been certified to give safe care to your children.   A trained person.   I most seriously ask – are YOU a trained person?

I have been teaching CPR, choking first aid, defibrillation, first aid and more for 15 years.    Also, I teach the youth Babysitting CPR class for age 11+, a true pleasure since the youth are learning skills for life – as well as to be safe babysitters for parents like you.

So… these people are trained on how to save your child’s life.   Are you trained?

I really dislike making a point through *fear*.    You know what I mean, “buy now or you’ll lose thousands of dollars!” or “act now before a tree crushes your house”.     It’s fear-based.

Yet…   Safety and being trained and being ready to handle health emergencies is vital.   These are your loved ones.   People can choke; people can collapse.   We don’t need to be afraid of it – we just need to get trained, then we are ready.

What happens to your precious children when you’re home alone with them?    It’s on you.   Please, take a class, get trained, feel comforted, feel confident.

In teaching my classes, I hear life story after life story – both from the adult classes and the youth in the Babysitting CPR class.    There are lovely stories of rescue, of recognizing emergency quickly and calling 911, of surviving the emergency.    It’s very uplifting.

But there are also the heart breakers.   Life happens.   Our bodies can be vulnerable to illness, to aging, to accidents.   In one youth class, a number of the students were from the same class at school and they shared they had a boy classmate, also 12, who was severely disabled but was daily in their class with them.   They liked him a lot, but he was unable to engage in class as they did, due to brain damage.     He’d choked at a very young age – and his babysitter hadn’t known what to do – and the time elapsing before 911 arrived rendered him brain damaged, for life.

For life.

Four out of five SCA’s (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) happen in the home, according to the American Heart Association.

Question for you – who is most likely to choke (pick TWO) :

–       Pregnant woman

–       Senior citizen

–       Teenager

–       Adult man

–       Little kid

–       Overweight person

Did you get it?

I’m hoping you selected – Little Kid and Senior Citizen.

nanny

Question for you – The point of CPR compressions, should someone be unconscious and not breathing is what?   (pick ONE) :

–       To stimulate the heart to restart

–       To change the rhythm of the heart back to a good one

–       To pump oxygenated blood up to the brain to reduce brain damage

–       To get them to wake up from unconsciousness

Did you get it?

I’m hoping you selected the third option – it’s about brain damage reduction until 911 arrives.   They, of course, have a defibrillator and all the skills for this emergency.

The clock is ticking when someone is not getting oxygen to their brain.   This is a chart about potential and probable brain damage.

Brain Damage Chart 001

Parents, your Nanny and Babysitter are trained.    Please get trained if you haven’t been, so far – you’ll be glad you did.

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Jean Lesmeister is CPR Training JEANius and is a 15 year CPR and Babysitting CPR Instructor in the Denver area, certified in American Heart Association, American Safety & Health Institute and the American Red Cross.    Please, get trained – you’ll be glad you did.      babysittingclass-cprnow.com