title: Compliance of middle school-aged babysitters in central Pennsylvania with national recommendations for emergency preparedness and safety practices.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the compliance of middle school-aged babysitters with national recommendations for emergency preparedness and safety practices.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, self-administered questionnaire-based study was conducted at 3 middle schools in central Pennsylvania.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1364 questionnaires were available for analysis. Responding babysitters (n = 890) reported previous training that included babysitter (21%), first aid (64%), and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (59%) training. Reported unsafe babysitter practices were leaving a child unattended (36%) and opening the door to a stranger (24%). The most common emergency experience encountered by responding babysitters included cut or scrape (83%), burns (28%), and choking (14%). Ten percent of responding babysitters have activated the 911 system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Middle school-aged babysitters will likely encounter common household emergencies and therefore benefit from first aid training; however, very little difference in safety knowledge was found between trained and untrained babysitters, suggesting modifications in babysitter training programs may be required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Penn StateHershey Medical Center, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA. nhackman@hmc.psu.edu
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Hackman
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cass
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Olympia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; D002648:Child; D002654:Child Care / Q000592:standards*; D002959:Civil Defense; D004630:Emergencies / Q000453:epidemiology; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005392:First Aid; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012449:Safety; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires