ELFS (Early Learning for Safety)
Bradford Safeguarding Children Board
Home Safety – Sharing Good Practice
18/2/11
Development & history of ELFS
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Developed in Manchester in 2002
Partnership between health & a local early
excellence centre
Local demand for & success of IMPS
Health and EY education working in
partnership with parents and carers to
reduce the number and severity of accidental
injuries in 3-5 year old children
Many changes from then to now!
Delivery of ELFS - Options
ELFS (Early Learning
for Safety)
Education/Early Years Staff
•Use resource bag to
work through weekly
activities/themes
with the children
Health/ELFS Trainers
•Deliver interactive workshops
for the children and/or
parents/carers if requested
Parents/Carers/Children
•Use Elfie book if provided
•Try to attend workshop if provided
Bradford ELFS
Introduce you to the ELFS educational
resources:
ELFS book bag contains:
 Resource book
 Elfie bear
 Packs (1-6) - rhymes and activities to assist
you to work through each weekly theme
(different accident/injury that is common to 35 year olds e.g. falls, burns and scalds, etc)
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Briefly introduce you to the other
options (ELFS extras)
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Parent/carer workshop
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Children’s workshop
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Elfie activity book
Manchester schools/centres are asked to
consider the options and request if they believe
These extras would be well utilised by their
parents/carers and/or children. Funding, demand
and deprivation ranking all influence allocation
ELFS – Parent/Carer Workshop
Aim: To raise awareness in
parents/carers of:
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Potential Danger Zones in the home
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Accidental injuries that 3-5 year olds are
particularly susceptible to and how these
may be prevented
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National Health Services that can be
accessed in the event of ill health or injury
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Basic life support & first aid
Parent/Carer Workshop - Overview
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A 1.5 hour, basic introduction to home safety and first aid
Informal and interactive
Consists of:
Pointing you in the right direction – Health Services
RoSPA Safe At Home scheme DVD (prevention – health
education – home safety equipment & best first aid)
DRSABC – How to apply to serious bleeding,
choking, unconscious casualty (breathing and not
breathing)
Parent/Carer – Take-away pack
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Hot liquid zone (prevention of scalds)
Cupboard lock (prevention of poisoning)
Safe At Home scheme height chart
IMPS first aid leaflet
NHS Direct leaflet
Use of Health Services information
GMFR home fire risk assessment
ELFS – Children’s Workshops
Aim: To develop an awareness &
understanding of:
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People whose job it is to help keep them safe
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Their responsibilities in regards to their own
safety & that of others
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What is likely to happen if they need to visit
hospital following an accidental injury
Children’s Workshop - Overview
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No more than 30 minutes per group
Need to be flexible (young children, short
attention span, staffing issues, other
constraints)
3 activities:
People who help to keep us safe and well
What’s happened to Elfie bear?
Aliah’s visit to the Children’s Emergency
Department
ELFS – Children’s workshops
Elfie activity book
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Every child or just
parents/carers who attend
workshop
Same themes as
school/centre
Same/similar activities but
no rhymes
Home safety, child
accident facts and figures,
home safety and first aid
advice
Addressing the Manchester Child
Accident Prevention Strategy
Priority areas for action in 1 to 4 year olds have
been identified as:
 Scalds from hot drinks & other liquids
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Burns from hot appliances
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Falls down stairs & off high beds
Accidental poisoning
Delivering ELFS allows health and education to work in
partnership to address all priority areas with children,
parents and carers
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Further information
Contact:
Sally Morton (Programme Manager) or
Daryl Kane (Project Coordinator)
ELFS c/o IMPS Office
Department of Emergency Medicine
Manchester Royal Infirmary
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9WL
Tel 0161 276 6955/8801
E-mail sally.morton@cmft.nhs.uk or Daryl.Kane@cmft.nhs.uk