I have worked in the au pair industry for over 10 years. When I retired, I left with many years of experience working with au pairs from over 40 countries and with over 200 host families. I decided to start a website to help host families find the best agency and the best au pair for their families. I know all the mistakes host families can make and these mistakes can be costly, time consuming and most importantly, harmful to their children. Our mission at www.AuPairClearinghouse is to help families avoid these mistakes so they can have the best au pair experience. I worked with so many wonderful au pairs from all over the world and their host families loved them, and treated the girls as if they were part of their family. I also worked with au pairs who came to the USA for all the wrong reasons or they were running away from problems at home or they had mental health issues. We are the only national consumer based information site that reports and reviews the au pair industry. In my free time, I enjoy my little farm in Virginia with my husband and three children where we garden and raise chickens and horses.
Child Chokes on Carrot and Dies - Does your Au Pair know CPR?
Tragedy struck a Long Island day school Wednesday, March 16, 2009, when police say a two-year-old girl died after choking on a piece of raw carrot.
According to the Carousel Day School in Hicksville, New York, the girl began to choke after eating a piece of carrot. Daycare employees tried to perform CPR on her, before rushing the toddler to Nassau University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics one child in the U.S. dies from choking on food every 5 days!
Is your au pair certified in CPR? Did your agency train your au pair to adequately handle such an emergency if your child started to choke on food? If your au pair does not have the CPR Certification or the necessary skills required to dislodge food from a child's throat, it may mean the difference of life or death for your child.
We took a look at the 12 au pair agencies and we found health and safety information on all their sites that confirm all au pairs do receive some training in first aid and CPR. The U.S. Department of State requires that some form of basic training must be provided during the 4-5 day au pair orientation.
We found that only one of the agencies provides the full CPR Core training that results in a CPR Certification!
Let's take a look at what the agencies claim they provide (not all agencies are listed here as most of them only had one or two sentences regarding the "training" given to the au pairs before they are released to your home):
Au Pair In America
In terms of CPR training, Au Pair in America states their "Orientation includes seminars by American Red Cross (trained) instructors who provide hands-on demonstrations in infant/child CPR and safety." How much training is not stated and the au pairs do not receive a CPR Certification.
However, APIA will pay for an Infant/Child CPR and First Aid Certification for standard au pairs and Child/Adult CPR Certification for Educare au pairs. The way it works is, your au pair finds a Red Cross training in your town, pays for it (or you do), completes and passes the course, receiving her Certification and APIA will reimburse you. CPR training costs about $200 and it is well worth the money.
APIA is the only au pair agency that will reimburse your au pair for this training.
Au Pair Care
Au Pair Care has an Au Pair Academy where the au pairs receive "Hands-on American Heart Association CPR & First Aid training." They do not provide the CPR Core training that results in a CPR Certificate for the standard or educare au pairs. They do provide CPR Certification for the au pairs enrolled in the Infant Specialized Program.
Au Pair Care's Infant Specialized Program Training:
Au Pair Care is the only au pair agency that provides the CPR Core Certification Training, but only in their Infant Program.
The training "utilizes a hands-on approach to train au pairs in infant safety and caregiving and infant stimulation and development." AuPairCare Infant Specialized au pairs attend a certification course in infant CPR and First Aid by the American Heart Association.
A spokesperson at Au Pair Care told us they could not guarantee all au pairs will pass the course (approximately 8+ hours training and a formal test), but she did said they have had "great success" with this program and the CPR Certification Training.
"Au pairs also receive instruction from AuPairCare trainers certified in Infant Massage with the Liddle KidzTM Foundation, and instruction from trainers certified in Infant Sign language by Baby Fingers, a leading Infant Sign Language learning organization."
The Infant Specialized Care Program is a wonderful place to start if you have an infant and are considering au pair childcare - we highly recommend that if you have a child under the age of 22 months, call AuPairCare first!
InterExchange Au Pair
This program provide a "full day on child health and safety with an American Red Cross licensed instructor focusing on:"
First Aid, CPR, and Rescue Breathing
Accident Prevention Awareness
Car, Fire, Toy, Indoor and Outdoor Safety
Basic Child Healthcare
Cultural Care
Upon arrival to the U.S., Cultural Care au pairs "attend an exclusive, four-day training program focused on child development and safety. Our unique Au Pair Training School offers instruction from dedicated and experienced educators in a classroom setting. Small class sizes allow teachers to give au pairs one-to-one attention."
"What do Cultural Care au pairs learn at the Au Pair Training School? The Cultural Care Au Pair staff developed the curriculum for the four-day program in collaboration with The Children's Foundation in Washington, D.C."
Topics covered include:
Health and Safety in the Home
Child Nutrition
Common Childhood Illnesses
Safety and Emergency Education
Effective Communication
Au Pairs as Role Models
Ages & Stages: Birth to Teenage Years
Age-appropriate Materials and Activities
Building Self-esteem in Children
Behavior Management
We strongly recommend that your au pair complete a CPR and First Aid Certification course so you can have peace of mind knowing, if your child chokes on a piece of carrot, your au pair will jump into action and save the day!
You can find local training courses by visiting the Red Cross at http://www.redcross.org/
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