Minimum Standards for Tribal Child Care: A Health and Safety Guide
Table of Contents (This document is also available in PDF and Word format.)
Section II:
Building and Premises
Safe Environment (continued)
In the event of an emergency, children and caregivers should be protected as follows:
- The child care facility should have emergency plans and procedures in place that are appropriate for the child care setting, addressing potential disasters such as fire, hurricane, volcano, flood, blizzard, tornado, etc. These plans and procedures, excluding child-specific information, should be prominently posted in public areas of the facility.
- Emergency plans should include:
- A record of two emergency contact persons for each child;
- Permission slips for emergency transport to health care facilities for the provision of emergency care, signed by parents or legal guardians;
- Permission for emergency treatment;
- A hospital and physician of choice as designated by the parent or guardian; and
- Individual plans for children with special health care needs, including allergies, developed by that child’s physician.
- Telephones or another identified and acceptable means of communication should be available to facilitate contact with emergency services.
- The child care setting should have a minimum of two unobstructed exits leading to safe, open areas.
- Emergency evacuation procedures should be in place and posted prominently within the child care setting. Evacuating children should be the first priority in the event of a fire or other emergency.
- Approved, properly maintained, multi-purpose fire extinguishers, appropriate for the size of the child care setting, should be readily available, and caregivers should be trained on their operation.
- An appropriately stocked first aid kit should be present and easily accessible to caregivers at all times, including during field trips and while transporting children. At a minimum, it should include: emergency plans, disposable gloves, band-aids and bandages, tape, sterile gauze pads, roll gauze, scissors, emergency numbers, first aid resource guide, and an insect sting kit.
Equipment should be maintained to reduce the possibility of injury as follows:
- Materials, toys, and furnishings should be safe, age appropriate, durable, and maintained in good condition.
- The layout and maintenance of all indoor and outdoor equipment and surfaces should be carefully selected to minimize the possibility of injury to children.
- Equipment should be stored in a safe and orderly fashion when not in use.
- Infant and toddler toys should be made of non-toxic materials and should be cleaned and/or sanitized at least daily. When soiled, they should be removed from use until they have been cleaned and sanitized. If the toys are not used, they should be cleaned weekly.
- Cribs, cradle boards, and/or infant sleep equipment should keep the infant safe from the dangers of suffocation, and should not allow a child to either fall, become entrapped, or have clothing tangled on protrusions.
- No child should sleep on a bare, uncovered surface. Seasonally appropriate covering, such as sheets or blankets that are sufficient to maintain adequate warmth, should be available and should be used by each child below school age. Sleeping arrangements for infants under 12 months of age should follow SIDS prevention strategies as outlined in the standards for Program Policies that appear in Section I. Children should not share bedding. Related children may share sleeping arrangements with parental approval. Each item of sleep equipment (sheets, blankets, pillows, etc.) should be assigned to an individual child and should be used only by that child while he/she is enrolled in the child care program. Each mat, cot, or crib mattress should be covered with the child’s individual sheet for exclusive use by that child.
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