Child care workers are eligible for free training if they are currently employed by a licensed early childhood education (ECE) center in Pennsylvania, AND if they meet at least one of the following criteria:

·    their Pediatric First Aid/CPR certification has expired or is set to expire within the next 12 months*;

·    they are a newly hired employee who must complete their initial certification within 90 days of their employment start date; or

·    Their certification is out of compliance due to a program citation.

*Priority for class assignment will be based on certification expiration date. Waitlists will be created if requests exceed project capacity.

Pediatric First Aid CPR AED training is available for free to Pennsylvania child care providers on a first come, first serve basis as long as funds are available.

No. Child care providers and programs do not need to use the ECELS to coordinate completion of their required Pediatric First Aid or CPR training. They may use any PQAS-approved instructor who teaches an OCDEL-recognized curriculum. PQAS-approved providers can be found by searching the PD Registry.

No. OCDEL will NOT reimburse for any Pediatric First Aid/CPR training taken outside of the ERT project.

Someone will reach out to you to schedule your class at a later date once the scheduling process begins. If you register as an ECE program, the class will be held at that program's location. If you register as an individual, we will let you know the location of your class once it is scheduled.

Once requests are reviewed, scheduling will be coordinated in one of two ways depending on how you registered.

For ECE Programs requesting a training for staff: Your program will be connected directly with a PQAS-approved instructor who is authorized to teach the required curriculum. The instructor will contact your program to coordinate scheduling details, including the date, time, location, and number of participants. Programs and instructors will work together to finalize a training that meets the program’s needs.

For Individual Participants: Individuals will be connected with approved instructors offering public classes. These classes are open to multiple participants from different programs. You will receive information about available class options so you can register for a session that fits your schedule.

All connections and scheduling will occur in the order that requests were originally submitted.

Because of the high volume of interest, it may take some time before you are contacted. Submitting additional requests for the same individuals or programs will not move you ahead in the process and may delay scheduling.

No. Submitting a training request does not guarantee that training will be scheduled. Due to the high number of requests received, we will not be able to accommodate every request. All submissions will be reviewed, and scheduling will depend on instructor availability, location, program or individual eligibility, needs, and OCDEL prioritization requirements.