Safe Sitter, Inc. is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing individuals with the life and safety skills they need for when they are home alone, watching younger siblings, or babysitting.

Safe Sitter® began because of a tragedy. In 1980, Patricia A. Keener, M.D. was pregnant with her third child and worked as the Director of Nurseries at Community Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. One spring morning as Dr. Keener was talking with a nurse who was a new mother, she received an emergency page; the ambulance was bringing in a child that had choked while eating breakfast that morning. She immediately rushed to the emergency room to help this child, but it was too late. The child had died.

Dr. Keener soon realized that little girl was the daughter of the nurse she had just spoken to. The child had been with an adult babysitter that morning, and the babysitter didn’t know how to handle a choking incident. Dr. Keener recognized the vulnerability of young children when cared for by unprepared providers and was surprised to learn how many people who care for young children were not equipped to prevent injuries and handle emergencies.

That afternoon, the Safe Sitter® course was born. The first Safe Sitter® class was held for about a dozen sixth-grade students at Park Tudor School where her children attended. After the first class, the need for a babysitting safety class for young teens became clearly evident. Just a few months after the very first class, Dr. Keener offered the class at Community Hospital East where fifty children attended.

Safe Sitter® babysitting classes have been preparing young teens to care for younger children for over 40 years. Offer Safe Sitter® programs in your community! The programs are turn-key, easy to implement, and follow guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association. Learn more about Safe Sitter® programs.