Caring for Children: Learn How to Save a Life

A childcare provider is responsible for the health and safety of others, and according to Linda Smith, the Executive Director of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), working in childcare requires knowledge and training that the average person may not have.

“A lot of people think, ‘Well, I raised children so therefore I can be a childcare provider. I can care for children,’” Smith said. “That logic is seriously flawed. It's not necessarily something that's intuitive.”

In an interview with Health Ed Solutions, Smith discussed the recommended health and safety training and certifications for childcare professionals and why they matter in the childcare field.

Recommended Health and Safety Training

As part of its mission to improve standards for childcare, NACCRRA pushes for stricter federal regulations on training requirements for childcare providers.

“There is no sort of national requirement of any kind around [childcare].” Smith said. “So, it's left up to the states, and the states vary widely on what they require of childcare providers.”

While national requirements currently are lacking, NACCRRA recommends certain training standards for childcare providers. Their recommendations include:

First Aid and CPR certification
Child Development Associate credential
Emergency and disaster preparedness training
Infectious disease control training

Importance of Child-Focused Training

Smith emphasized that it is important for childcare providers to seek out health and safety training specifically focused on caring for children.

“When you're talking about emergency procedures, First Aid and CPR for example, [treatment] for an infant and a toddler is very different than [treatment] for an adult,” Smith said. “Some of the skills are the same but certainly there are a lot of differences for young children. So, it's important that the training be specific to the child.”

NACCRRA also encourages children-focused disaster and emergency training, as many issues arise when dealing with children in a disaster that would not occur when dealing with adults.

“When you have a disaster situation, you've got children who cannot speak for themselves,” she said. “If children have medical issues that are important and they get separated [from their parent], if they have allergies and they're not known – there are just a lot of things that go into working with young children that don't apply to adults.”

PALS Certification

Childcare providers also have the option of seeking out more advanced health training – namely Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certification. PALS certification allows an individual to be prepared for more life-threatening emergencies when caring for children. Key concepts covered in a PALS certification course include:

Recognition and treatment of infants and children at risk for cardiopulmonary arrest
The systematic approach to pediatric assessment
Effective respiratory management
Defibrillation and synchronized cardioversion
Intraosseous access and fluid bolus administration
Effective resuscitation team dynamics

Smith said she would eventually like to see higher levels of certification among childcare providers; however, she also noted that having PALS certification as a federally-enforced requirement is unrealistic at this point.

“We still have a lot of states that don't require anything,” Smith explained. “We're still working, to get states to just do very [introductory], basic stuff… the requirements around childcare are so minimal.”

About Health Ed Solutions’ Certification Courses

Health Ed Solutions offers courses designed for ACLS and PALS certification and re-certification courses. HES also offers First Aid, CPR and AED courses. These courses were designed for individuals requiring workplace training and others who are required to complete credentialed first aid, CPR and AED training.