A new program to train 35,000 local kindergarten teachers and
caregivers to further safeguard young children from injury was
launched yesterday.
The Pediatric First Aid for Caregivers and Teachers Program,
jointly launched by the Shanghai Education Development Foundation
(SEDF) and the American Academy of Pediatrics, is designed to give
caregivers and teachers the skills and confidence required to save
children during emergencies.
The program offers courses on basic pediatric first aid
procedures, identification of common infectious diseases and how to
get professional help in time. Key courses include first aid for a
blocked airway, and rescue breathing.
"Accidental injuries have killed many children and disabled
more," Shen Xiaoming, director-general of the municipal
government's education commission and a former pediatrician,
said.
"Yet almost all of these injuries could have been prevented had
parents and teachers known some basic injury prevention know-how,"
Nancy Yin, a young teacher with Daily English Land, a bilingual
kindergarten in Shanghai, said, adding that the safety of children
was the top priority in her daily work.
"I think pediatric first aid is important not only to my job,
but also my life because I will also have a child some day," she
said.
Parents also applauded the program.
"I think many parents are not fully aware of how accident-prone
children are, and neither do they have enough first aid know-how,"
Yu Yiqi, mother of a two-year old girl, said.
"It's very necessary to make up a missed lesson."
Accidental injuries account for about 50,000 deaths among
children under 14 every year in China, according to the National
Death Statistics (2000-05) by the Ministry of Health. Drowning,
asphyxia and fracture are leading killers, followed by motor
vehicle crashes, burns, poisoning, animal bites and falls.
The SEDF has planned to select 20 pediatricians from four major
local hospitals as the first batch of trainees. They will then
train seeded teachers and caregivers and extend the training to the
kindergartens and primary schools citywide.
In 2006, 298,000 children aged between three and six were
enrolled in nurseries and kindergartens in Shanghai, according to
the municipal education commission.
An official survey in 2006 among 108 teachers from 87
kindergartens in the Yangpu District showed a startling gap in
teacher knowledge of accident prevention techniques. About 70
percent of teachers surveyed were unable to handle pediatric
emergencies well.
(China Daily July 26, 2007)