To the rescue

Your qualifications and references have been scrutinised, criminal records checks completed and you are ready to be placed with a family and start looking after children. But are you really ready for any possibility? Would you know what to do in the event of accident and injury?

According to a shocking survey last year (see box), two-thirds of parents are unsure whether their childcarer would know what to do in a medical emergency. And parents themselves are even less clued up, with nine out of ten surveyed ignorant of basic first aid which could save their child's life.

Roma Felstein, a journalist and broadcaster, knows the true value of having a nanny trained in first aid. When her son Toby swallowed a coin and it got stuck in his throat, her South African nanny did not panic and knew exactly what to do to get it out. 'I was standing beside her in the kitchen when it happened and I was left open-mouthed in admiration,' says Roma. 'She lifted him up and slapped him across the back in exactly the right spot and it came out. It showed me how important first aid training is for anyone looking after children.'