Illness Prevention and Emergencies

As a licensed child care provider my biggest fear is having a child choke and worse yet requiring CPR. It is important that preemptive measures such as CPR and First Aid training be obtained by all child care educators on a regular basis. Though we all hope to never be put in a situation that requires these skills be put into action, it is comforting to know that we are prepared.
Owning a licensed large family daycare allows me the opportunity to touch the lives of children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 12 years. However this also presents challenges on how to keep them all safe and happy when there is such a range of interests and abilities. Each morning we have the children who are over the age of one, participate in a craft. This may be painting, coloring or creating something exciting. A completely probable choking hazard that could occur is one of the craft supplies such as the beloved googley eyes falling to the floor and staying there unnoticed. A short time later my newly mobile 9 month old boy, ‘C’, finds the googley eye and as like most curious infants sticks it in his mouth and then he begins to choke.
Immediately upon realizing that ‘C’ is choking I would go over and pick him up. I would stick my index finger in his mouth and see if I could sweep the item out. Thankfully ‘C’ is still conscious so there is no need at this point to perform CPR, however I was not able to get the item out with my finger. Next, I would flip him over so that his belly was on my forearm head down to the floor and thrust him, in the back hoping to dislodge the item. Thankfully after several thrusts the item comes loose and flies out of his mouth and on to the floor. This is when I realize he was choking on a googley eye from this morning’s art project. While all of this is occurring my assistant is distracting the other children and is standing by to call 911 if needed. After ‘C’ is calmed down and out of harms way I would make a call to his parents notifying them of the situation. Because he did not lose consciousness and the item was easily removed there is little need for follow up with his doctor.
“Knowledge of and training in basic emergency response procedures are essential for the teacher” (Robertson, 2010). One of the most important things I teach the children in my care is how to avoid incidents like this from happening. We always inspect the area after craft time and eating time. The children are very diligent in cleaning up because we have gone over the cause and effect of leaving small items on the floor for the babies to find.
Everyday the children in my care enjoy outside time. A possible situation that would involve CPR could easily occur while outside. All the children are taking turns on the playground equipment, some on the swings and a few going down the slide. Suddenly I look over and ‘A’ is lying down in front of the swing unconscious. I asses the situation and believe that he was walking in front of the swing set and knocked over by one of the swinging children. My assistant immediately gathers all of the children and goes to a different part of the playground so they will not only be not scared by the situation but out from under foot. She also calls 911 from her cell phone (which we always carry for in caser a situation like this occurs) and lets them know of the situation. First, I gently shake ‘A’ to see if he is responsive. Unfortunately he is not. I then do a quick sweep of his mouth to make sure he is not choking on anything. When I find that his airway clear I begin to administer CPR.
First I tilt his head back slightly at cover his nose with my finger and give him a rescue breath checking that his chest rises and falls. Second I begin chest compressions by taking the heel of my hand and compressing the chest 30 times and then give 2 more rescue breaths. This is done at a very fast pace. After 5 cycles ‘A’ suddenly opens his eyes and begins to cough. I then roll him on his side in case vomiting begins. At this point my assistant takes the children inside and calls ‘A’‘s parents and lets them know of the situation and that they should immediately come to the daycare. I would wait outside with ‘A’ until medical help arrives so that he can be checked to see if there are any problems.
One of the things I love most about being a large family provider is that I have a full time assistant that is able to handle the situations with me. Her ability to watch over the other children allows me to focus solely on the crisis at hand. If I had not had an assistant I would have done CPR for approximately 2 minutes and then stopped to call 911. If a situation like the above examples should happen the most important thing to remember is to act immediately and stay calm (Robertson, 2010).
Even though as child care providers our hope is to be able to return the children to their parents each day enriched with more knowledge and maybe a little dirty from fun play, there is the possibility of an accident occurring. In the case of my daycare teamwork plays an important role in crisis management. It is vital that each person know their role in a situation that requires immediate attention such as choking or an unconscious child. A plan should be put in place for various situations no matter how improbable the chance of them occurring. There should also be a designated place for all important information such as parents’ phone numbers, evacuation routes, and safety numbers such as poison control. Everyone at the daycare should know where this file is located, even older children so that they can be an extra set of hands during a crisis.


Reference:
Robertson, Cathie. Safety, Nutrition and Health in Early Education. 4th edition. Wadsworth Pub Co, 2010. Print.