by Falyn Dimas

Created on: March 26, 2008

I have been a preschool teacher for three years. I can testify that children have the most incredible sponge-like minds and can master skills that people often never attempt with them because they assume they are incapable. My first year as a teacher I was reviewing the curriculum for our safety unit and felt that it barely taught the kids what I considered to be basics in handling emergencies. With great flack and disbelief from my colleagues I altered the program. I kept but enhanced important things that included accident prevention, emergency plans, and 911 calling, but added what I believed to be the most important skill: administering first aid.

It is very difficult to teach children first aid. For the purposes of this article I am considering children to be under the age of 7. Most programs will offer first aide classes to children over that age and encourage parents to enroll their child in a basic first aid course by the age of 11. The age group I worked with were 4-6 year olds.

To make this program work I had to sit back and ask myself all the things that made this age group difficult to teach first aid to. My list included obstacles such as, limited ability to assess severe situations, limited attention spans, and innocence.

Before we even began we talked all about glove safety and some of the "bad germs" that could touch your body while you are helping someone if you are not careful and wear your gloves. Kids in gloves are so cute, even the smalls were large. I eventually special ordered child sized gloves.

To tackle their limited ability to assess, I taught them the same thing that you or I would learn in first aid. Simply ask "Are you OK?" If the person does not answer at all, or answers no call 911 and follow the operator's directions. If they could tell that the person was hurt in an accident they knew the number one rule was to NEVER move them and call 911 right away and follow the operator's directions. We discussed several signs of accidents, like the person is laying next to a ladder, or being inside a crashed vehicle. At that age you do not want them attempting emergency care to these extreme patients. However by having them listen to the operator's instructions she may be able to guide them through necessary life saving procedures. Children that age have done it lots of times when they were alone with a loved one that was hurt or stopped breathing. I taught the children how to check for a pulse(it was adorable watching them take great care

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