Best Practices

Best Practices

     "I LOVE Safe Sitter®!” Whether she’s saying it or writing it, you can feel Gina Flesher’s passion when she talks about teaching Safe Sitter®. Gina, the Site Coordinator for Duncan Regional Hospital in Duncan, OK, has been teaching two classes each summer since the site began teaching in 1993.
     Gina originally became an Instructor in 1991 for Liberty Hospital in Liberty, MO. When she moved to Oklahoma, she knew she wanted to take Safe Sitter® with her. “Duncan’s slogan is ‘Caring for Community’ so Safe Sitter® was a perfect fit! We live by our slogan and by offering Safe Sitter®, we feel our babysitters are influenced early to make good decisions regarding the care of children.”
     Gina feels instilling safe practices is a key component for living Duncan’s slogan. “It is a comfort to know that young babysitters recognize dangers and know how to react.” Gina, who enjoys getting to know the students, feels it’s important to have fun while teaching the important life skills. “When our graduates tell others how much fun they had as well as how much they learned, they are like a walking billboard for us!”
     At least one of Duncan’s Safe Sitter® graduates has proven that he recognized danger and knew how to react. “Several years ago, a mother took her three children to a local discount store only a week after her 12-year-old took the class. The store manager, a friend of the family, had given the children hard candy on their way out. Our Safe Sitter® grad quickly recognized his 6-year-old brother was choking and calmly used the skills he had just learned to rescue him. The life-saving moment not only impressed his mother but all the spectators as well! It was such a relief for the store manager and what great advertising for us!”