CD9: Health, Safety and
Nutrition for Young Children
Ch 9 and 10:
Safety and Accident Management
Why Do We Manage Safety?
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Unintentional injuries are leading cause
of death in children
Accidents are preventable!!
Different needs at each age and stage
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Equipment
Controlling the environment
Developing self discipline
Chart, pg 219-210
How Do We Manage Safety?
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Identify and Manage risks
Quality Supervision
Relevant Safety Education
Managing Risks
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Plan the environment
Prepare, pre-judge and test activities
Follow safety rules (chart pg 224)
Use safe (non-broken) toys and
materials
Quality Supervision
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Dionne’s “Three Point Playground” strategy
Flexible, team-based supervision plan
Make supervision decisions based on
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materials used and available
activity type
activity location
children’s age
children’s choices of equipment
Playground Supervision
What decisions would
you make?
What would you train
your staff to do if this
was your play ground?
Relevant Safety Education
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Structured safety activities
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Fire and Earthquake
Playground and fieldtrips
Food safety
Parent workshops
Community Resources
Safety “Teachable Moments”
Re-educate if the environment changes
How Do We Assess Safety?
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Toys and learning materials
Outdoor play equipment (pg 228)
Art materials (pg 235)
Size and quality of available toys
(pg 229)
Weekly inspections of all equipment
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Remove all broken or questionable items
Safety Checklist (pg 232 – 233)
What are the Legal Issues of
Safety?
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Fieldtrips
Animals in the classroom environment
Sign-in & sign-out / emergency consent
Accident and injury documentation
Accident and injury reporting to parent
Liability and negligence (pg 237)
Safety Resources
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National Center for Injury Prevention
and Control
National Program for Playground Safety
MedLine
US Consumer Product Safety
Commission
McGruff Homepage
Managing Accidents and
Injuries
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Preventing accidents
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Supervision
Quality environment environment
Fire chief inspections
Know each child
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Health enrollment forms give you information
about potential safety issues
Daily observations and interactions
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Once an accident has occurred
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Care for the child
Document
Report to parents
Document, document, document!
What
changes
would you
make to
this form?
Who do
you call
when the
parents are
not
available?
Talking with Parents
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What do you say?
What do you show them?
What care do you suggest they provide?
Do you have them sign the
documentation?
Handling injuries or accidents
in the classroom
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ABCs of first aid!
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Asthma
Diabetes
Seizures
Choking
Head injury
Poisoning
Burns
Bleeding
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ABCs of first aid…
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__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Call 911 for everything life threatening or if you are unsure of what to do
Barriers to Accident Care
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Lack of knowledge
Lack of training
Fear of consequences
The Role of the Teacher
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What is your commitment to preventing
accidents and injuries?
What skills and knowledge do you need?
What can you do to improve the quality of
your center or home to reduce accidents and
injuries?
What will you do to promote safety to the
kids? Give two examples.
What will you do to promote safety to the
parents? Give two examples.