Injury Prevention Programs Designed for Grades 4-8

As a health care provider, you know that effective injury prevention programs have an immediate impact on the health and safety of your patient population. From fall prevention classes for the senior members of your community to car seat checks for the newest members, the educational programs and services you offer save lives.

Older elementary and middle school students have often aged out of many of the programs you offer and yet still visit your emergency rooms regularly for unintentional injuries. If you were to survey these students and ask them what to do if the power went out or if they had a nosebleed when they were home alone, they would likely say they would call a parent and ask for help. And while that may be a suitable answer for minor problems, it’s a frightening answer if they are babysitting a younger sibling who experiences a serious head, neck, or back injury.

Completing an educational program where the younger members of your community learn to stay safe when home alone, watch younger siblings, or babysit should be a community standard. If you are searching for new programs that are medically accurate and focus on injury prevention, consider offering programming by Safe Sitter®.

Safe@Home is a 90-minute program designed for students in grades 4-6 to prepare them to be safe when they are home alone. Students learn how to practice safe habits, prevent unsafe situations, and what to do when faced with dangers such as power failures or weather emergencies. Students are also introduced to the Safe Sitter® First Aid Chart and learn a system to help them assess and respond to injuries and illnesses.

Safe Sitter® Essentials is a next natural step in learning as this program prepares students in grades 6-8 for the responsibilities of watching younger siblings and babysitting children. The course content is developmentally appropriate for middle school learners and contains interactive games and role-playing activities to enforce key concepts and ensure healthy behaviors. Students learn:

• Safety Skills: Students learn how to prevent unsafe situations and what to do when faced with dangers such as power failures or weather emergencies.
• Child Care Skills: Students learn tips to manage behavior that will help them stay in control of themselves and the children in their care. Students also learn the ages and stages of child development, as well as practice diapering.
• First Aid & Rescue Skills: Learning skills such as choking rescue and CPR is often students’ favorite part of the class. Students also learn a system to help them assess and respond to injuries and illnesses. (CPR is included in Safe Sitter® Essentials with CPR and Safe Sitter® Expanded.)
• Life & Business Skills: The ability to screen jobs, discuss fees, and greet employers will set students up for success now and in the future. Students practice these skills through various role-playing activities.

Adults in your community can also benefit from Safe Sitter® programming with our newest program, Grandparents: Getting Started. Many things have changed since the participants in Grandparents: Getting Started raised their children. It is important for grandparents to learn the new recommendations for care based on research from doctors and scientists studying the physical and emotional development of infants and children.

Taught by certified Safe Sitter® Instructors, participants will learn how to provide the best and safest care for their grandchildren. They will also learn the latest information on how to safely care for infants and children and how to manage the behavior of children of all ages, in addition to life-saving skills such as choking rescue, first aid, and injury management. Learning tips on creating a good relationship from the start as well as learning to say no to every request to babysit will help grandparents enhance their relationship with their children and create lasting memories with their grandchildren.

You are an integral part of your community and care about its safety – today and in the future. Offer programming by Safe Sitter® and enhance your hospital’s community education and outreach. Apply now to get started.