Herc

Babysitter / CPR Classes

All classes are 9:30am-3:30pm and cost $40 per student. Gift certificates are available in the volunteer department and make great birthday gifts for students 11-14 years of age.

Saturday, June 7th 2008
Wednesday, July 23rd 2008
Monday, August 11 2008

For Friends and Family Classes are offered frequently Please call Imelda Lundstrom at Health Education Resource Center 508-765-9771, ext. 2692 To register, please download an application.
Click here

A toddler chokes on a Lego. A stranger makes harassing phone calls. A baby gets a bang on the head. It can only take a split second for something to go wrong. When a child's well being - or life - depends on another's ability to know what to do, it's crucial to be aware that something can go horribly wrong.

Human beings aren't born, nor do they always develop, the skills needed to take care of another human being. As part of her role at Harrington, Elizabeth Jarret, RN, teaches a Babysitting Training Course at the Health Education Resource Center, making sure prospective sitters do develop these skills. In a one-day training class, she covers the basics on how to prepare children 11-15 years old to responsibly care for younger children. When leaving your child with a babysitter, it's comforting to know someone will take the appropriate steps in the event that a situation goes awry. And as the babysitter, it's not only crucial to know what to do in an emergency, but a plus to become that fun, considerate, creative caretaker everyone on the block is looking to hire.

Despite preconceptions, babysitting isn't just about chatting online or watching TV while the children color contently, only to snag some extra spending money at the end of the night. With babysitting come certain expectations of maturity, common sense and knowledge.

"We do this program about once a month," says Jarret, "We do a lot of activities to try to teach kids to make decisions and build their confidence level. We do a lot of 'what if?' training." In this six-hour class, Jarret, who is certified by the American Red Cross to teach babysitting, instructs CPR training and First Aid techniques provided by the American Heart Association. Adapting elements of former class formats, she says she's developed a "Harrington Hospital-style" format that includes not only this training, but education on the different developmental stages of children, other emergency training and dealing with "stranger danger."

"I just asked people what they were looking for in a babysitter," she says. "Safety was a huge issue. Presumably when a parent is interviewing someone, they want someone responsible, but it's hard to know that. Knowing that they went through this course makes a big difference." At the end of the class, participants who have completed all the tasks receive a participation card to verify they have completed the program.

The old Boy Scouts motto "be prepared" is a good one, and the basis for Jarret's class. Infusing her own experiences, allowing others to share their experiences with each other, and teaching standard emergency practices culminates into a well-rounded, informative class, sending more competent babysitters into neighbors' homes. "I can see these kids have really responded by the end of the class," says Jarret. "

A lot of them are more aware of what can happen. We've really had a tremendous response. The experiences of those who have babysat before are also insightful to others. When you're in a room with other people, it brings that wealth. It makes these kids think that babysitting might not just be watching TV for an hour. They have to react quickly and make decisions."

The class has become popular. Because Harrington Memorial Hospital promotes its services through the website, it's not unusual to get calls from-out-of-state. "We've had several inquiries from as far away as California" says Imelda Lundstrum, who does scheduling for the Health Education Resource Center. "Some young people are really very interested in the program and find us through a web search, but don't realize how far away we are from them".

For local babysitters to are interested in the program, scheduling can be accomplished
by calling 508-765-9771, ext. 2692.