Child Health, Safety, and Nutrition

Having a disater plan and everyone knowing there role is a very critical part of both Daycares and Public Schools.

A.  Knowing Your Role


     1: The Director or the Principal develops a disaster plan and coordinates it with municipal emergency management officials to make sure that it is compatible with the municipality's Emergency Operations Plan.

     2:  Each staff member needs to be trained on his/her role and responsibilities.

     3:  Having practice drills is critical, this will ensure that everyone knows their roll, this  brings  me a real live disaster that happened at my son's school.

     4:  It is also important that parents know the diaster plan that is being followed.

                                                               
The State in which I live is not really known for hurricane's or tornado's, but over the past 5 years we have been hit by tornado's.  In 2009 we had a serious thunderstorm that put us under a tornado watch.  When the alarm went off, it was during school hours, because I work in an elementary school, my principal had a diaister plan in place the first week of school, and we practice everyday with our students. I have an emergency pack hanging next to the door, in this packet I have a first aid kit, the students emergency contact information and a student roster.  I also made 3 signs in neon colors, one says "all here", another says "all are not here, but I know where they are", and the last one says "all are not here____are absent".  I include emergency contact information in my emergency pack because I call each parent to inform them of the situation and give them the option of picking up there child.  Most parents are just thankful that there is a plan in place and that they were informed of what's going on.

  At the time this occured, my son was a junior in high school.  I know that the principal had a plan in place because I requested a copy of it so I will know what they were doing and where the students were going in the event that there was a weather emergency.

The school that my son attended was a magnet school, so they had over 2000 students, which is a diaister itself.  Around 1:30 pm my son called me saying that their building was being evacuated to their safe house because of the warning, he had no idea where his class was because he was in the restroom when the siren went off.  I asked if they had done a practice drill to the safe house, and he said "no", I asked if he knew where the safe house was, he again replied "no".  This put me in panic mood because my son is special needs. I told him to stay where he was until I called him back.    I proceeded to call his case load manager to inform her of what was going on and his where abouts, this put her in panic mood because she was on the other side of the building and his class was already on their way to the safe house.  She contacted his teacher to inform her that she was missing a student, which she would have known if she had did a head count.  The teacher was instructed to give her students to another Special Education teacher and go back to the restroom by her class and retreive my son.  I called him back to inform him that his teacher was on the way.

                                                      

Could this situation have been prevented?  Of course it could have.  Why did this accident occur?  This incident occured because polocies and procedures were not followed.  There was a disiter plan already in place, my son's teacher did not go over this plan with the students, nor did she familiarize herself with the plan.  The principal did not follow through to make sure her staff understtod the plan and she did not follow through to make sure they were implemnting the plan, because of this my son's life was put in danger.  It is so important that all staff be trained and prepared for any disiater that occur at your daycare or public school.  Being unprepared and untrained can put the children and yourself in danger.

                                                                       

Physical Fitness

Kimber Taylor
Week 5

                                                                       

What is physical activities and why is physical fitness so important in our children?

Physical activity has been defined as bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure.  How does this help our children?

• Exercise help maintain healthy bones and muscles.
• Physical exercise keeps away obesity in children
• It promotes social well being because they are interacting with other children.
• It helps in overall growth, development and strength
• Exercise can sometime help children perform better in school.

Physical inactivity has become a serious problem in the United States. More than half of U.S. adults and children do not meet recommended levels of moderate physical activity, and one-fourth engage in no leisure time physical activity at all (PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, 1996). Inactivity is more prevalent among those with lower income and education, and, beginning in adolescence, affects females more than males (NIH, 1995; Physical Activity, 1996). A pattern of inactivity,  begins early in life, making the promotion of physical activity among children imperative. In addition to being physically active, children need to learn fundamental motor skills and develop health related physical fitness. Physical education, provided at school and recess in day cares is an ideal way to encourage activity and develop fitness among children and, for many children, will be their only preparation for an active lifestyle.

Daily large motor activities are necessary component of a child care program.  A caregiver who encourages exercise in the child care daily program provides a broad base for nutritional risk management.  Encouraging all children to be physically active and providing daily large motor activities to ensure this allows the caregiver to promote good health and well being.  Children expend energy in all of the following typical large motor activities:

• Running
• Throwing balls
• Climbing jungle gyms
• Swinging
• Digging in the sand
• Pulling wagons, pushing toys, riding tricycles
• Jumping
• Walking
• Dancing or moving

We should also promote physical activity between teachers and parents by providing extracurricular physical activity programs. Interested parents might be encouraged to establish developmentally appropriate clubs and/or intramural activities of a competitive and noncompetitive nature. Walking clubs, in-line skating, jumping rope, water aerobics, and intramural swim teams provide a few examples. We should also encourage and enable parental involvement in physical activity. Parental activity level is very important in promoting activity among children. Schools can help encourage activity in parents by sending home activity homework that parents and children do together, recruiting parent volunteers for physical education classes, and sponsoring parent-child activity programs at school.  If you look at the children in any playground and you will see how they maintain their levels of fitness. The children never stay still, they run around and play chase. The balls or the jump ropes come into play and the children are enjoying a comprehensive fitness routine whether they realise it or not. Children take part in basketball, soccer and kickball. Gym class and dance is another excellent way of keeping fit.   A child that is a more active child makes for a much more pleasant child. There is direct correlation between how active a child is, and how much happier they are. Physical fitness releases their stress, pent up energy, boredom, uneasiness, and restlessness.

A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged.  If they are taught early about physical fitness it will be repeated throughout their life.




References:

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH: A REPORT OF THE SURGEON GENERAL. (1996). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

National Institutes of Health. (1995). PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH: NIH CONSENSUS STATEMENT. Kensington, MD: NIH Consensus Program Information Center.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3702598

CPR and Choking Emergencies

When a child has been burned, has ingested poison, or is choking on a piece of food, you may be the person who can save that child's life. The plans and preparation you and your colleagues have in place can make all the difference in a life-or-death situation. In fact, anyone who is licensed or trained to work with young children should have the knowledge and capabilities for providing emergency care at a moment’s notice.

                                                                                 

Scenario 1: 2 year old toddler chocking on apple piece in throat.

                                                                                      

In August of 2005, my boys and I were in a local popular restaurant in Georgia.  There was a couple sitting behind us with 3 young children, all under 6 years old.  We placed our orders at the same time, with each of us ordering appetizers.  Our appetizers came out first, almost at the same time.  The family across in front of us ordered a fruit and cheese platter for the children.  The mothers was cutting the apples into pieces for the 2 year old.  I noticed that before the 2 year old could chew and swallow, the mother was putting more in his mouth.  I remember that I jokingly turned around and said "slow down little man", his parents laughed and we just kept eating.  About five minutes into our appetizer, I heard the 2 year old coughing and gaging, the mother screaming and yelling that he is chocking and she didn't know what to do.  I jumped up out of my chair, instructed the waiter to call 911, as he was calling 911. I began the Heimlich Maneuver on the 2 year old.
As I am proceeding with the maneuver, I am trying to get the mother clam so that she can assist me with this process.  I could not get the mother calm enough to help me so I turned to the dad, who was much calmer, I instructed him to stand in front of the child and make sure that he was conscious, I gently held the child in front of me and as though I was hugging him, as I am doing this I sightly bend my knees for support, all the while having the father watch the child's face.  I gently put my fist above his stomach and began pushing at an angle,  I repeated this step several times until the child's airway became clear. As I was doing the maneuver, the paramedics showed up just as the child began to cough and cry. This scenario taught me a very valuable lesson, which is you should always be prepared for an emergency.  In order to understand how to prepare for an emergency, the person involved my first understand what constitutes as an emergency.  Did this situation constitute as an emergency? Yes it did.  Was the mother prepared for this emergency? No she wasn't.  Let's talk about why the mother was not prepared.  In this situation, the mother was concentrating on feeding the two smaller children, as she is feeding she is going from one child to the next, not giving the children time to chew and swallow before adding more food.  Because the 2 year old did not have all of his teeth, it took longer form him to chew his food.  I do not think that the mother was prepared because she did not understand that chocking is a major hazard in young children and  you have to be careful of the size of food that you put in there mouth.When the child began chocking, she went into panic mood and did not know what to do.  Learning first aid and CPR is very critical when you dealing with children.


                                                                                      

Scenario 2: A 34yr old pregnant female, gets hit by lightning, drops, loses consciousness. When assessed initially, not breathing, weak pulse, then 5 mins into the scenario loses pulse. What am I going to do?

                                                                               

First I would stay clam and call 911, I would stay at the scene, give as much help as I can and reassure the victim.  I would check the victim from top to bottom without moving her.  Because she is unconscious, I would begin rescue breathing and continue this procedure until help arrives.  Breathing emergencies are always life threatening.  Regular breathing is effortless and comfortable, but when breathing becomes an effort or causes pain, this is an indicator that rescue breathing or CPR needs to be preformed.  I believe that weather you are working with children or adults, everyone needs to learn First Aid and CPR.

Child Health, Safety, and Nutrition

Kimber's Blog
September 18, 2011
Week 2

No matter where the day care or public school facility is or how large it is, children, staff and even parents may be at risk as a result of natural or human-caused disasters. Effective

planning and response is achieved by coordination, cooperation and the participation of,
individuals and the community at large. This is why it is so critical that a disaster plan is put in place from the very beginning.

I. Everybody has a role in iRespond or Disaster planning.

     A.  The Daycare Director or the Principal
       
           1. It is the responsibility of the Daycare Director and Principal to gather a team and 
               implement a disaster plan.   

           2.  All staff and children should be trained on implementing this plan.

           3.  Keeps parents and staff members informed of emergency plan revisions.

           4.  Conduct drills and initiates needed plan revisions based on drill evaluations.

The State in which I live has never really been known for tornados or hurricanes, but over the last 10 years we have had disasters to hit back to back with devestating consequences.  I am an Educator in a public school, my principal implemented a disaster plan the first week of school.  After this plan was inplemented we had surprise drills weekly.  Her taking this disaster plan seriously and encouraging us to do the same, is what helped us when a weather disaster did arrive.

In 2008 a deadly tornado hit Georgia, killing 15 and injuring 27.  The siren went off at about 12:30 at my school.  Because we had practice so much, my students knew what to do.  I keep a iResponder kit next to the door.  In this kit I have a first aid kit, emergency cards for the children and a class roster.  I also made 3 neon signs.  One sign says "all here", another one says, "all are not here, but I know were they are" and the last one says "all are not here____is absent".  I take the emergency cards because I call each parent to inform them of what's going on and give the the option of picking up their child.  Most of our parents are familiar with the disaster plans and are just thankful for the call. I made the signs to hold up so my onsite person know where my children are.  Our evacuation went smoothly and all children were safe and accounted for.

The siren went off at my school before it did at my son's school.  At this time my son was a junior in high school.  The high school were my son attended was a magnet school with over 2000 students, which was a disaster by itself.  Around 1:00 my son called me to inform me that the siren had gone off about 12:55 at his school, he did not know where his class was because he was in the restroom.  I asked him if his teacher had gone over the procedures for safety and evacuation if you were not in the room, he replied "no", I asked if the had practice the disaster drill?, he replied "no", I asked if he knew where their safety place was, he again replied"no".  I told him to stay where he was until I called him back.  I am in panic mood now because my son is special needs.  I called his case load manager and told her what was going on, she went into panic mood because she was on the other side of the building, she informed me that she was calling the teacher, the teacher was instructed to leave her students with another special education teacher (which is another disaster waiting to happen) and go to the restroom by her classroom and retrieve my son.  I called my son and told him that his teacher was on the way.

Could this have been prevented?  What happened in this situation?  Was a disaster plan put in place?  What should have happened to prevent this from happening?  This could have certainly been prevented.  This incident happened because the teacher was not prepared.  I know that a disaster plan was put in place because I requested a copy of the plan, along with a copy of the school map.  Though the disaster plan was put in place, it was not implemented and the principal did not follow through to make sure that the teachers, students and parents understood the importance of the plan.  The teacher had no idea that my son was still in the restroom because she did not take attendence before the evacuation, nor did she check the restroom to see if anyone was in there, which is in their policy.  It is important that schools and daycares have a  written plan with procedures to be followed when an internal or external disaster occurs. The plan should be rehearsed periodically so that everyone has a clear understanding of their roll.  As an educator, I am responsibile for every child that is in my care. It is my responsibility to know where they are at all times. I call roll everytime we switch centers so that I am aware where my students are.

Because the disaster plan was not implemented at my son's school, his life and the life of others were put in danger.

Kimber's Blog

Sunday September 11, 2011


Week 1 Blog

• Identify at least five potentially hazardous situations/safety threats common to your age group.
• For each of the hazardous situations or safety threats:
  • Summarize specific safety policies that apply to these situations/threats.
  • Describe measures that should be taken to prevent and/or deal with these situations/threats.
  • Indicate what families can do to ensure the safety of the child at home.

Though I have experience at all levels from infant to Preschool, I am focusing on Safety Threats most common with toddlers. Toddlers probably represent the developmental group with the most potential for unsafe practices.  They are at a cognitive level that allows them new ways of thinking and solving problems, but they do not understand cause and effect.  The five potentially hazardous situations or safety threats common to toddlers  that I chose to focus on are:

1.  Chocking Hazard: Little one (toddlers) are always placing thins in their mouth's to explore and see what the object is all about.  All daycare providers and families should expect this and be prepared, because being prepared will help reduce the risk of a child chocking.

2.  Falling Hazard: As a toddler begins to walk more, injury due to falling increases.  The daycare provider, alone with the parents, have to be  conscience of the child’s developmental level in regards to their ability to move and safety risks.

3.  Environmental Hazard: These hazards are found in the condition of equipment.  A daily inspection of the classroom and outdoor equipment is required by the state of Georgia for day cares and also should be a habit of parents, as well.Safety latches, child gates and outlet covers should always be used.

4.  Poison Hazard: Toddlers like to stretch their limits and test their environment, which they now have the physical ability to accomplish.  They like to explore places that may not be in view.  Poison and chemicals that are kept in cabinets, drawers, or on shelves are a major risk for this age group.  Toddlers need careful, constant monitoring and potential hazards need to be constantly anticipated.  The environment should be modified a needed.

5.  Fire Hazards: For me this is a real big deal, that goes really deep and has great detail. Children in general are very curious and do not know what it means to keep things away from heaters,  and they do not get the concept of staying away from hot appliances.

For these concerns there are many measures that can be taken to prevent injuries and ensure the safety of the children in our care. Here are some ways we can ensure safety:

1. Make sure there are outlet covers on all the plugs in the classrooms, in the homes of children at young ages. This will  prevent children from having access to the plugs and causing harm to themselves or others.

2. Make sure  that cords are covered so the children can’t be prone to grabbing them or wanting to play with them.

3. Make sure things are kept away from heaters, ensuring the heaters have covers so children cannot get burned by the heaters.

4. Make sure children are not around appliances that are hot and can harm them.

5. Make sure that bookshelves are mounted against walls so they cannot fall over.

6. Make sure children are not trying to climb onto bookshelves and tables in which they could fall off of or knock them over on themselves.

7. Keep all hazardous chemicals out of the reach of children be it at home, or in the classrooms. Do not use these chemicals while the children are present. 

As daycare providers and parents, If we follow these polices and procedures we can ensure that our children and the children in our care are in a safe environment. We must make sure that a child is safe in our care for ourselves as well as our parents.  As a parent, I would no want to leave my child in someone’s care if they have safety concerns. Also, working with the families to follow these same policies and procedures  will ensure that the children are safe at home as well. Having a good repore between parents and teachers is the key to a successful parent, teacher relationship. 

                                                                                                                                     

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