During the summer months in Alaska, thread hosts and joins many community events throughout the state which include everything from activities for dads to street fairs - fun stuff for the entire family. read more >>
In light of the tragic death of 19-month old Faith Phillips at a child care center in Wasilla, Alaska, thread extends sympathy to the Phillips family in what is a parent's worst nightmare, losing a child. Unfortunately, these tragedies are a wakeup call to policy-makers about the importance of training all people who care for young children. This includes CPR, First Aid, Safe Sleep, SIDS/Shaken Baby, appropriate supervisory guidance and other health and safety training.
In this case, we don't know exactly what happened and will wait for the outcome of the State's investigation. What we do know is that everyone working with children in a child care program should know CPR. We know the State of Alaska is working on increased training requirements to strengthen the quality of programs and thread supports these efforts. We encourage policy-makers, parents and early educators to join us to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again.
"AFCCA would like to suggest [taking] time to re-evaluate your child care environment/home. Please walk around your indoor and outdoor play area and environments that children have access to. Look for potential dangers. Think what a child could climb on, in, and over to areas that could be hazardous. Look for places a child could get stuck and eliminate areas that are not easily monitored by you. Broken toys must be removed.
Please consider the amount of time that goes by when you might be distracted or not in full view of all the children. Make sure you immediately put your eyes and/or ears on each child in your care at least once every minute. Remember all it takes is less than a minute for a child to come into life threatening danger and how quickly you can respond can mean life, death or serious injury. Please check that your CPR/First Aid is current. Take time to review the steps and have emergency numbers posted. It is your responsibility to be confident in your own abilities (and staff/family members if applicable) to respond and provide CPR if needed."
