The month of February is American Heart month. We are American Heart Association approved providers of CPR and we teach quality CPR classes that show you the correct techniques for performing CPR.
If you work with children—or if you have children at home—knowing how to care for them in case of a sudden injury or illness is important. If you are a teacher or assistant teach in a child care center in Minnesota, you are required to maintain Pediatric CPR and First Aid certification. It’s also one of the requirements if your center is accredited by the National Association for Education for Young Children.
Skills You Should Know
Every year, statistics say that approximately 12,000 kids die from injuries such as burns, falls, poisonings, drownings, and incidents with road traffic—all of which may be preventable. There is a lot of overlap between CPR and first aid skills for adults and children, but there are key skills you should focus on and techniques you should know as a childcare provider. Here’s a brief overview, which is not meant to be an exhaustive list:
The Heimlich Maneuver
Adults sometimes choke on food, but young children may put things in their mouths that they shouldn’t. In addition, children’s tongues are larger in proportion to their mouths, and their airways are narrower than adults’. Because of these factors, children generally face greater chances of choking than adults do in day-to-day life.
CPR for children
It can be less common for kids to need CPR, but it can happen—especially if the child has a heart problem or another chronic illness, or for children in drowning situations. If you are working with kids, even if it’s not required by your license, it’s a good idea to know CPR for children.
In our classes, we teach CPR for infants, children and adults. Pediatric CPR (infant, child) is required for child care providers and we also include the adult portion so you’re assured to get a thorough training, and the correct training and certification.
In the First Aid portion of the course, we teach a variety of First Aid topics including care for wounds as sometimes children play rough—and sometimes they can get injuries that are more than just scrapes. Basic first aid for children involves knowing how to compress a wound to stop bleeding, when to use ice, treat eye wounds and deal with other urgent situation to keep the child stable. We also cover treating allergies as allergies have become more common so we cover the signs of an allergic reaction and how to treat anaphylaxis.
We have qualified staff who teach in a non-threatening environment and we make our classes practical, fun and relatable to your field. We have plenty of mannikins for individual learning.
Contact us today for your next CPR and/or First Aid training at shawley@mncchc.com