Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Hartsdale Fire Department’s Baby Sitting Class held its annual graduation ceremony at Station 2, on Thursday evening, October 6, 2022.

Hartsdale Fire Department Deputy Chief Chip Nanko and Captain Frank Musorrafiti handed out certificates to the students who successfully completed the class.

The HFD Baby Sitting Class teaches students how to handle different emergency situations using classroom and actual hands on training. There is a total of 12 ½ hours of instruction spread over six classes.

The course has an emphasis on home safety and fire prevention. During the six-week program students are taught CPR, rescue breathing and defibrillation. They learn about EDITH (Exit Drills in the Home), along with kitchen safety and kitchen fires. Students also learn how to use fire extinguishers.

Other topics covered in the class include Stop the Bleed which deals with any type of penetration wound. They also learn babysitter preparedness, safety and the handling of infants.

The course is primarily taught by HFD firefighters but some lessons are also taught by a Greenburgh police officer, a nurse and a paramedic.

Since its inception, the program has trained 1419 babysitters. This year, twenty students successfully completed the class.

The next class will be in September 2023. Photos by Alan Zale