Child care students learn first aid

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

WCHS student Whitney Nunley gets ready to try out some artificial respiration techniques on a training dummy as Red Cross instructor Mike Baus looks on. (Charles W. Johnson photo)

The Warren County chapter of the Red Cross lent a helping hand to Warren County High School this week by providing first aid training to a child care class at the facility. Students in the class, called Early Childhood Education Careers, are required to pass a test and teachers say the Red Cross training is an important tool to help students to prepare for the exam.

Local Red Cross director Kathy Nesmith says the organization is glad to share its well-known expertise in first aid instruction with the school system, particularly in a child safety oriented class.

“In taking care of children, and adults, they need to know how to respond to emergencies,” Nesmith said. “So this is one of the things they ask us to do, come in and teach all the different classes the things they need to know about first aid. How to respond until professionals arrive.”

According to class instructor Mike Baus, the training covers a wide range of first aid techniques and information.

“Some of the things covered are cuts, burns, bruising, bee stings,” Baus said. “If there is heat related emergencies, where kids are out in the heat, active. Diabetic comas, signs of heart attack, just the very basic so they’ll be able to recognize these things and try to keep the patient viable until help arrives.”

“Things such as poisoning,” Nesmith added. “Poisoning is another big thing. Allergic reactions to different things. How to recognize signs, because visual contact is one of the first signs that something’s happening and you need to call 911.”

The classes include videos with examples of various emergency situations and hands-on experience with first aid dummies provided by the Red Cross to aid in the instruction.

Students take the classes because they are interested in some type of career involving children, whether it be working in a day care, teaching or even a career as a pediatrician, and WCHS teacher Saundra Williams says the classes are an important part of any class dealing with child care.

“Safety is our very first priority with children,” Williams said. “We drill this into our students heads. The second and third year students go out into the elementary schools, to the day care centers, and this type of training is required for anyone who works in a day care center. So our job is to prepare them. But, you know, it’s just good general knowledge.

According to Williams, this is the sixth year the Red Cross has volunteered its services to teach the classes to students interested in careers involving children.

Baus pointed out that many people think the Red Cross only does blood drives, and though that is a vital service, he says the organization provides a lot of other services to the community that people may not be aware of, like first aid classes, swimming lessons and aid to disaster victims.