Time to Perform CPR on Mad Men…

In preparation for last night’s Season 4 opener, I took some time to recap the past few seasons of Mad Men. I realized that more often than not, Red Cross training could have helped these intriguing characters as they found themselves in unusual and sometimes ridiculous situations. (BEWARE: If you aren’t caught up on Mad Men there are SPOILERS in this!)

Let’s begin with Season 1 - audiences are introduced to Helen Bishop, a divorcee with two children who is new to the Ossining neighborhood. Betty Draper, being the good neighbor that she is, kindly agrees to help Helen by babysitting her young son. Unfortunately for Betty, things went terribly wrong. I’m sure Betty wishes she would have enrolled in our Babysitter's Bootcamp before taking on this endeavor where she would have learned about the importance of leadership and professionalism; safety and safe play; and first aid.

Still looking at Season 1, Roger Sterling, a partner and known womanizer at Sterling and Cooper, is up late partying with his co-worker Don Draper and suffers a massive heart attack. Don Draper must have been kicking himself and thinking, "If only I had taken a CPR/AED training course, I would have the lifesaving skills needed to perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and use an automated external defibrillator (AED)."

You don’t even want to get me started on last season, when Lois decided to take a John Deere tractor around the office for a joy ride. If Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce had provided First Aid training to their employees, they all would have been prepared to provide emergency assistance to the poor guy who lost his foot.

This really got me thinking - although accidents like these are far and few between, they may occur and I know that when they do, I have the training necessary to respond.

posted by: Rachael Garcia, Resource Development

Become a Safer Sitter this Summer!

I have been babysitting for more than ten years. I began babysitting my three younger sisters when I was about 13 years old, and I continued to babysit throughout my college years. I can still remember the first little girls I babysat, D.D., Mary and Abby. I used to have so much fun with them playing games, watching movies, and ‘vegging’ out all night before I put them to bed. They went to my grade school, and their parents were friends with mine, so it made sense to have me babysit these girls.

I loved it. I loved every minute of babysitting with them. I got older, and soon the oldest daughter could watch the younger siblings, but I began babysitting for other children. It wasn’t until I was 16 and in health class that I took a CPR/First Aid class. I learned all the skills necessary to respond in an emergency situation … three years after I had first begun babysitting.

I think to myself now- how useful these skills would have been when I was babysitting at 13. I would have felt much more comfortable as a babysitter, and I am sure the parents would have as well. It is without a doubt that they trusted me, but I am sure as parents they would have felt a lot safer if they knew I had some kind of First Aid or CPR training.

I know I would have loved to take a babysitting class when I was younger, so that I could develop skills as a babysitter. It would have given me something to do during free time in the summer, and it would have made me feel a lot safer as a sitter.

And Parents wouldn’t you love for your children to take a babysitting (and CPR/First Aid) training course so that you can feel a sense of ease when you let them watch their siblings or sit for a friend’s child?

This summer American Red Cross of Greater Chicago is offering Babysitter BootCamps that will teach children the necessary Babysitting, CPR and First Aid skills needed to respond in an emergency situation.

Offered throughout the Chicagoland area, this is a perfect course for babysitters to receive the training necessary to become the best babysitter they can be.

Babysitters Come Out and learn how to become a Safer Sitter today!

To learn more the American Red Cross and how to become a Safer Sitter visit: www.chicagoredcross.org/babysit