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First Aid Kit - When Was the Last Time You Inspected
Yours?
first aid kits
The facility shall maintain at least one readily
available first aid kit wherever children are in care,
including one for field trips and outings away from
the facility and one to remain at the facility if
all the children do not attend the field trip. In
addition, a first aid kit shall be in each vehicle
that is used to transport children to and from a child
care center. Each kit shall be a closed container
for storing first aid supplies, accessible to child
care staff members at all times but out of reach of
children. First aid kits shall be restocked after
use, and an inventory shall be conducted at least
monthly. The first aid kit shall contain at least
the following items:
a) Disposable nonporous gloves;
b) Scissors;
c) Tweezers;
d) A non-glass thermometer to measure a child's temperature;
e) Bandage tape;
f) Sterile gauze pads;
g) Flexible roller gauze;
h) Triangular bandages;
i) Safety pins;
j) Eye dressing;
k) Pen/pencil and note pad;
l) Syrup of ipecac (use only if recommended by the
Poison Control Center);
m) Cold pack;
n) Current American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) standard
first aid chart or equivalent first aid guide;
o) Coins for use in a pay phone;
p) Water;
q) Small plastic or metal splints;
r) Liquid soap;
s) Adhesive strip bandages, plastic bags for cloths,
gauze, and other materials used in handling blood;
t) Any emergency medication needed for child with
special needs;
u) List of emergency phone numbers, parents' home
and work phone numbers, and the Poison Control Center
phone number.
Note: Syrup of Ipecac was recommended for first aid
kits prior to 2004. Because of recent research, it
is no longer considered the best practice to include
it in first aid kits. Instead caregivers should call
their Poison Control Center or 911 for instructions
when they think a child may have taken a poison. See
http://nrc.uchsc.edu/CFOC/updates.htm.
RATIONALE: Facilities must place emphasis on safeguarding
each child and ensuring that the staff members are
able to handle emergencies. In a study that reviewed
423 injuries, first aid was sufficient treatment for
84.4% of the injuries (30). The supplies needed for
pediatric first aid, including rescue breathing and
management of a blocked airway must be available for
use where the injury occurs.
COMMENTS: Many centers simply leave a first aid kit
in all vehicles used to transport children, regardless
of whether the vehicle is used to take a child to
or from a center, or for outings. Contact information
for the AAP is located in Appendix BB.
TYPE OF FACILITY: Center; Large Family Child Care
Home; Small Family Child Care Home
Wallet-sized
Medical Information Card
This
valuable FREE MedCard
is available online compliaments Firstaidco.ca. An
Adobe Acrobat form will open in your computer and
you fill it out by typing over the information that's
there, then print it out, laminate it and put it in
your wallet.
Resource:
National SAFE KIDS Campaign Mary Lou O'Toole of the
National SAFE KIDS Campaign, +1-202-662-0600, or motoole@safekids.org
http://www.safekids.org.
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