With so many people living busy lives and dealing with hectic schedules these days, it is not uncommon for parents to seek out the assistance of a professional babysitter during the times they cannot provide care themselves. Sometimes, you may need a babysitter on hand for as little as a few hours a week so that you can simply leave the house and deal with a few errands to make your life easier.

Other times, you may need assistance more regularly. However, regardless of how often a babysitter is needed, one essential question a parent will always have to ask him or herself is, “Can I really leave my child alone with someone who doesn’t know CPR?” If the babysitter you use is not trained in the necessary lifesaving techniques that could be required to help your child in the case of an emergency, would you really feel confident leaving your precious little one alone?

Why is CPR so essential?

For every minute that an individual remains unconscious without having a trained individual to perform CPR on them, their chances of survival go down by 10%. Most of the time, in the case of babysitters, they will only be required to perform CPR until the emergency services arrive, but if you consider that the average arrival or response time of an ambulance is somewhere in the region of five minutes, having a babysitter who doesn’t know CPR could immediately take 50% off your child’s chance of survival. Bystander CPR is absolutely critical when it comes to saving lives.

In Tampa, Florida, babysitters must be no younger than sixteen years of age before they can effectively look after a child, and by that point in time, they will have given the opportunity to take in various first-aid training courses that would improve their ability to look after your loved ones. Besides obviously having your child’s best interests at heart, knowing that a babysitter has CPR training can give you the confidence you need to believe that the individual you are trusting with your child has been dedicated enough to certify himself or herself as a responsible babysitter.

By gaining these certifications, the person looking after your child has proven that they are serious about what they were doing, and as a parent, you would never want to leave your child in the care of someone who isn’t completely devoted to the safety of children.

Leaving children with babysitters in Florida

In Tampa, Florida, parents are obligated to provide the babysitter they are using with important information and telephone numbers that they can use in the case of an emergency. However, it is up to the babysitter to ensure that they have the right qualifications to give your child the best possible standard of care if something was to go wrong. Parents need to consider whether simply knowing that a babysitter can call the emergency services is fantastic enough if a disaster was to strike.

  Local CPR classes are available across Florida – View our calendar and sign up for a class today!