Defibrillators in Early Learning Services

Transforming from Amazing Educator to Successful Leader

Darlene Wadham > Absolute Support

So, you are an amazing educator, you nurture others, you care about their feelings, you like to see everyone happy, and you love to have fun!

While these traits are incredibly important for both an educator and a leader, they can make the transition to leadership a little challenging. Finding the right balance is important for both you and your team so you don’t burn out quickly. Finding time for yourself as a leader is a priority, it is easy to have a revolving office door where you listen to others and support them on their journey but don’t get time to fulfil your other roles. That isn’t to say that you shut your door and don’t give your team time, it simply means that you need to schedule time for both yourself and your team.

While there are always tasks to manage at a service, the real success comes from effective leadership of people. Leading a team to achieve greatness includes providing clear direction, guiding practice, and motivating and inspiring others to be the best they can be. As a leader, strive to be caring, consistent and clear with your communication. Don’t let the little things slip, conflict can build quickly so address things early and agree on common goals to move forward. Recognise that sometimes you need to make the hard decisions, just do them with integrity and kindness. Effective time management and delegation are essential to give you time for leadership. I often hear comments like “It is quicker to do it myself” or “I know if I do it, it will be done correctly”. This is where good leaders can fail. Delegation is essential to building confidence and empowering your team, it is crucial for succession planning and it frees up time for you to achieve other tasks including spending time with your team. Don’t be fooled, delegation isn’t easy, and it can fail if not planned correctly.

Key tips for delegation:

• Identify suitable tasks for delegating, not just the ones you don’t like to do. • Select the right person to delegate to, consider their skills, interests and experience. • Define the task clearly and provide suitable training on how to complete. • Recognise that few will get it right the first time or do it the same way you would. • Use encouragement to support their development and future success.

• Provide enough time and resources for the task to be completed. • Motivate and celebrate success.

• Importantly, spend time to check the completed task, the responsibility of a delegated task still lies with you.

S - SPECIFIC M - MEASUREABLE A - ACHIEVABLE R - RELEVANT T - TIMELY

(SMART goals were originally developed by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham in 1981). Lead by example, share your vision, listen to others, always come from a place of kindness and don’t forget to show your team that you still like to have fun too!

Darlene Wadham is an Approved Provider of an Exceeding Service and operates an Early Education and Care Consultancy Business. She has been inspiring both children and educators for almost 30 years.

Defibrillators in Early Learning Services

Julie Hughes > Michael Hughes Foundation

Why is First Aid training so important for responding to health emergencies?

When presented with a stressful or frightening event, an acute stress response within our bodies prepares us to either FIGHT or FLEE. Whether it be a friend, someone in your care, a colleague, or even a stranger, having to be a responder in a cardiac arrest situation will evoke such a physiological reaction and generate enormous stress for the bystander. First Aid training gives your team of staff the confidence to step in and take immediate action when an emergency occurs. It equips them with the skills and knowledge to save a life or prevent a person from suffering a permanent disability. Having a strong knowledge of First Aid also means your staff can easily identify potential health hazards.

Regular first aid qualifications and ongoing staff training are mandatory requirements for the early learning sector. Whilst defibrillators are a key component in Australia’s First Aid training courses, they are not mandatory health and safety equipment for early learning services to have on-site.

So, why should an early learning service consider investing in a defibrillator?

When early learning service providers consider investing in a defibrillator, they may find the idea a little daunting. Service providers may have concerns about accidentally hurting the person needing medical care, misusing the equipment, or being sued if something were to go wrong. Cost is also a factor when considering increasing the First Aid response. Defibrillators should not be feared. They are safe and easy to use, with no risk of legal action as outlined in our Simple Facts section below. Organisations should have confidence in purchasing a unit as an essential asset to improve their own first aid response and be part of the local community’s Cardiac Chain of Survival to help save more lives.

The Simple Facts

A cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating normally, and the person becomes unconscious and stops breathing. It is an electrical issue, and the person is considered clinically dead. As soon as a cardiac arrest happens, bystanders have to work against the clock to get the person’s heart beating again. For every minute that passes, the chance of survival decreases by 10%. In every cardiac arrest event, you MUST: Call – Call 000 for an Ambulance for help to the person and for you as the rescuer. Push – Push on the chest with Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). Shock – Shock the heart to attempt to get it beating again (this also restarts a person’s breathing).