History of Safe Sitter®

Safe Sitter® began because of a tragedy. The accidental death of a nurse's young child while in the care of an adult babysitter prompted Dr. Patricia A. Keener, an Indianapolis pediatrician, to create Safe Sitter®. In reflecting on her colleague's loss, Dr. Keener recognized the vulnerability of young children when cared for by unprepared providers. Safe Sitter® fills the gap by increasing the availability of safe and nurturing adolescent caregivers.

In March 1980, a mere two weeks after the tragic event, Dr. Keener taught the first Safe Sitter® class at Park Tudor School in Indianapolis, Indiana. That same spring, student classes were taught at Community Hospital, where Dr. Keener was Director of Nurseries.

Three years later, Dr. Keener taught the first Instructor Workshop in Indianapolis to train adults to teach children to be better, safer babysitters.

Expanding its Borders

Safe Sitter® began to grow beyond Indianapolis. In the spring of 1984, the first Safe Sitter® student class was taught outside of Indianapolis in New Albany, Indiana. One year later, Safe Sitter® was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization and its first Board of Directors was formed.

In 1987, Safe Sitter® received its first grant from the Lilly Endowment, a three-year grant designed to take the organization nationwide. In August of that same year, Dr. Keener trained Safe Sitter's first National Trainers and, together, they wrote the first Instructor Manual.

Burroughs Wellcome funding in 1988 sponsored a national promotional tour by Dr. Keener. In March of that year, National Trainers taught the first one-day Instructor Workshops outside of Indianapolis resulting in the establishment of teaching sites in 28 states. National Trainers learned to deal with regional issues, such as red ants in Texas, mountain lions in Montana, moose attacks in Alaska, and earthquakes in California.

Garnering Attention

In October of 1989, Dr. Keener was awarded the Ross Lay Education Award by the American Academy of Pediatrics for her work as Founder and Medical Director of Safe Sitter®. The program began to receive more national attention through a number of nationwide television appearances by Dr. Keener:

• with Joan Lunden on Good Morning America (October 1990).
• with Maria Shriver on CBS This Morning with Maria Shriver. (Summer of 1991)
• with Katie Couric on The Today Show with Katie Couric (November 1997)
• with Al Roker on The Today Show in June of 2006.

Growing and Changing

In 2002, Safe Sitter® began offering Continuing Education Units (CEUs) through Indiana University School of Nursing. The following year, Instructor training by video began to be offered to existing teaching sites to enable them to conveniently train new Instructors. A new environment brought new developments, among them a revised curriculum including CPR in the 12 ½ -hour version and the first video for use in student classes in 2008.

In 2010, Safe Sitter® welcomed its first assistant medical director, Sara Lynn-Palecek Ross, M.D. In 2011, Dr. Ross officially inherited the title of medical director from Safe Sitter® founder and medical director, Dr. Patricia A. Keener. Dr. Ross's first order of business was to provide guidance in the development of Safe Sitter's new curriculum to be released in January 2012. The curriculum,  updated to follow the latest guidelines of the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, includes a convenient "1-day with CPR and choking rescue" course option and was re-designed with a modern flair to appeal to today's young teen. Dr. Keener mentored Dr. Ross through the curriculum revision process and was instrumental in helping guide her transition to the role of medical director.

Safe Sitter® continues to grow and provide innovation in teaching young adolescents to be better, safer babysitters. Stay tuned for more developments!