BABYSITTER EDUCATION COURSE
VOLUNTEERS CORNER
Many children within the heavily populated residential areas of the Frankfort (IL) Fire Protection District are without their parents for considerable periods of time, as the adults of many households travel from 18 to 40 miles to their jobs during the week and significant distances for an evening out on weekends. While some of tlic children take care of themselves, a significant number of them are under tile care of babysitters who are not much older than the children they arcpaid to supervise. Babysitters often watch six-year-olds after school until a parent comes home.
These conditions and the potential for danger they generate prompted Our fire department to sponsor a Babysitter Education Course that would address the hazards that could arise during a fire or health emergency .
PROGRAM PARTICULARS
Age. Our research indicated that the program would be of most benefit to youngsters in the 1 1 – to 16-year-old age group. Most babysitters in our community fall into this category, and this population, for the most part, is homogeneous in terms of maturity and behavior.
Class size. The class size is limited to 30 participants. Classes are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional names are placed on a waiting list. Demand for the class has resulted in a waiting list every year since the program’s inception in 1984. We have had requests to run the program more than once a year, but we do not believe that running the program during another part of the year will work attendance-wise.
Schedule. Classes are held on consecutive Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.nt. starting in the latter part of January. This is the time of year when the students are most likely to attend and when competition for their time from school and extracurricular activities is the least.
Promotion. The program is publicized in local newspapers and community newsletters and on the local cable television channel. The announcement contains instructions on how to register by telephone.
Support. The program is funded through the fundraising programs of the Frankfort Volunteer Fire Association.
COURSE COMPONENTS
The course was introduced as a sixclass program; a seventh session subsequently has been added Attendance is taken and weekly assignments are collected at the beginning of each class. A short break, during which enrollees are served a soft drink and snack, is held after the first hour.
Course components are broken down as follows:
Class 1. This segment includes an orientation; a description of course requirements; a short tour of the firestation; and the procedures for reporting fire, medical, and police emergencies. Students are taught the telephone numbers to use for the various areas within our fire protection district (the entire district is not served by 9-1-1), the basic information to give the dispatcher, the importance of knowing the address of the house and the location(s) of telephone(s) in the house, and the need to have a phonenumber at which the parent(s) can be reached in an emergency. Hands-on practice includes having the students report emergency situations they create to a “dispatcher,” using an emergency phone and dispatch system set up in the fire station.
Classes 2 and 3Taught by emergency medical technicians and paramedics from our department, these sessions stress preventing injuries by watching the children closely. Homework assignments involve making up a situation that addresses an injuryto be discussed in the second class. Each session begins with reporting the emergency to the dispatcher, to review the material taught in Class 1. Minor injuries, such as dressing wounds, are discussed in Class 2. Class 3 covers more complicated medical situations such as convulsions and caring for a physically or mentally handicapped child. Practical, hands-on experience, such as applying a splint, is provided whenever possible.
Class 4. Students usually find this session the most interesting. It covers handling police-related matters — such as obscene and annoying telephone calls, suspicious people at the door or window, burglars, and suspicious noises—that might arise while babysitting. Brief demonstrations of self-defense techniques are presented by members of our department and the NX ill County Sheriffs Department. Scenarios discussed are suggested by the students, who the week before are asked to create a hypothetical policerelated situation of concern to them. Again, students “call in” the emergencies before they are discussed.
Class 5. Addressing fire-related emergencies, this session begins with identifying unsafe situations that might exist in the homes in which the students are babysitting. These hazards include worn electrical cords, space heaters, fireplaces, stoves, ovens, microwave ovens, and electrical appliances. We recommend that the babysitters keep the children away from potential dangers and that they make the parents aware of any obvious hazards, such as a sparking outlet. Also addressed are kitchen fires and ways to prevent them. Each student gets a turn to extinguish a real fryingpan fire with baking soda and by putting a lid on the pan. Fire extinguishers also are part of this session’s agenda. Students are taught when one should be used and when one should not be used, how to use it to extinguish a fire, how to determine when it needs charging, and how to activate it. They also are reminded to ask whether there is an extinguisher in the home and if so, where it is. Then the youngsters are taken outside and given the opportunity to put out a flammable liquid (gasoline-diesel fuel mix) with a Class B extinguisher. Personnel from our department teach this class to ensure safety.
Class 6. The first segment of this two-segment class, presented by a daycare center teacher, discusses and demonstrates activities, including simple games and craft projects, that can help keep younger children occupied. The second part features talks by several community parents about what they expect of a babysitter. Their comments reinforce the principles and procedures taught in the previous classes.
Class 7. This newly instituted session allows time for added course content such as a CPR demonstration, which now is part of the first-aid segment. A pizza party is held during the latter portion of this meeting.
Attendees receive a participation certificate during the last class. The certificate lists six areas: Reporting Police, Rescue, and Fire Situations; Minor First Aid; Extinguishing Minor Fires in the House; Evacuating a Burning Building; Handling Weather-Related Problems; and Realizing What Parents Expect of a Babysitter. Only those sessions attended are checked off. The certificate of participation, rather than babysitter certification, is awarded to avoid legal problems: The fire department is not qualified to certify babysitters.
The program has been well-received in the community. The telephone directory published by a homeowners’ association, for example, designates on its list of local babysitters those who have completed the Babysitter Education Course. Reporters and photographers from local newspapers generally attend one complete session during each program.
The babysitters who attended the courses themselves have reported that the knowledge and experience they acquired enable them to handle with confidence situations that arise while babysitting. Examples they give include putting out small fires in pans on stoves and identify ing and correcting potentially dangerous fire and safety conditions in the homes.
In addition, the program has created some very positive public relations between the department and various sectors of the community.
