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)