Danger was brewing in the cozy Mennonite house north of Ephrata.

A baby lolled unsupervised in a bathtub.

Another child lay on a bed with no side rails.

The toilet seat was up. Bottles of perfume and Chlorox sat within easy reach of curious young hands.

Fortunately, though, these sinister scenes posed no real risk. The "house" was a cutaway model used to teach Plain families about safety, CPR and first aid.

Kay Moyer, a registered nurse, totes the miniature home around the county, specializing in presentations to the Plain community, which often slips through the conventional health system cracks.

Red Cross mannequins in hand, she has visited about a dozen home-school groups and Old Order Amish schoolhouses so far.

The program, Healthy Child, Safe Child, which she launched this year in partnership with Taunia Ceresini, a registered nurse practitioner, is offered free of charge.

"I think there's a need" that wasn't being met, Moyer said.

Farms are fertile ground for accidents, she added, and ambulances are often distant.

Last autumn in this county alone, she told seven young Mennonite mothers gathered around the kitchen table, "We lost two children [to drowning] in horse troughs, and one in a bucket."

Moyer, who is a Red Cross volunteer, got involved in the safety mission as an outgrowth of her Penn State Cooperative Extension job, educating farmers about pesticides and water quality issues.

The women collaborate with the Lancaster General College of Nursing & Health Sciences, whose students help with first-aid training and physicals.

Thinking about safety
Outsider access to Amish schools is limited, said Kathy Smyser, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross of the Susquehanna Valley, but Plain communities have welcomed Moyer and Ceresini.

Moyer said she feels privileged to work with Plain children and parents.

"It's a win-win for everybody," she said.

Literally.

Smyser cited an instance this year in which an Amish boy trained in first aid saved a younger sibling from choking to death on a penny.

Moyer's and Ceresini's work takes several forms, including well-child checks for newborns and older children and CPR/choking programs for parents.

Sisters Day programs are conducted in Amish and Mennonite homes and teach women about pesticide and chemical exposure, first aid and emergency preparedness.

Moyer recently led a Healthy Child, Safe Child Program at Kaye Martin's brick farmhouse in Clay Township.

Folding tables had been set up in the attached garage, where six LGH nursing students gauged children's baseline health.

Blood-pressure cuffs were slipped on and off. Stethoscopes hovered. Eyes, ears and reflexes were tested.

Children scurried to and fro while nursing instructor Darla Davidson supervised.

"Our goal is to reach these children," who are not covered by medical insurance, Davidson said.

Marian Metzler, a volunteer from Lititz, escorted a small group of young boys to the porch to practice telephoning for help.

"What we're doing today is filling in the gaps" in medical care and safety awareness, she said, opening a black attaché case.

Inside was a white phone and an interactive electronic device that simulated a 911 operator.

A tow-headed boy picked up the receiver.

"What is your emergency?" intoned the "operator."

"A guy fell off the silo," the boy replied.

"We're making up a little story" to get the children to think about emergency response, Metzler explained.

More healthy dialogue was unfolding in Martin's homey kitchen.

A ceiling fan cycled overhead. The woodwork had been stenciled with biblical excerpts, such as "Faith, Hope and Love. ..." A parrot roosted in the corner.

"Keep your fingers out of the cage," one of the mothers warned a young boy who had wandered into the room.

Moyer, kneeling by a resuscitation mannequin on the floor, was showing the women how to straighten a victim's airway by tipping the head back.

"It's kind of like a straw in chocolate milk," Moyer said of the airway. If it's bent, nothing gets through.

 "You have four to six minutes" to revive someone who has stopped breathing, Moyer told the group, though the cutoff might be longer for a victim plucked from very cold water.

The first rule of lifesaving is don't risk drowning yourself, she added. Step two is calling 911 and stationing someone on the road so that the ambulance does not miss the turnoff.

"And please put your reflective [address] sign at the end of the lane," chimed in a woman in a blue print dress.

Saving Annie
Next, Moyer bent over the white T-shirted mannequin to demonstrate CPR.

"If you feel a pulse," she pointed out, "that means their heart is working."

If not, you give 30 chest compressions and two breaths, over and over until reinforcements arrive.

Moving to the kitchen table, Moyer showed the ever-growing knot of pig-tailed and bluejeaned children drifting in from the garage how to administer abdominal thrusts to dislodge food from the throat of a choking victim.

"I have my mannequin along and he likes hot dogs," said Moyer, referring to a frankfurter-like plug inserted into the "victim's" mouth.

A boy in a blue shirt tested the rescue maneuver and giggled when the dog popped out and dangled from the mannequin's neck by a string.

"We want to watch our little brothers and sisters" and make sure their food is cut up in easily digestible chunks, Moyer reminded the group.

She wrapped up by laying a toddler mannequin lengthwise on her arm, head down, and delivering back blows along with a thrust.

"Keep doing it until you get [the obstruction] up or someone takes over or the ambulance arrives," she said.

She tucked "Little Annie," the mannequin, in a red-zippered bag.

Each family got a thick binder crammed with health and safety tips and a whistle for dads to blow if they need emergency help out in the field.

Handouts to the children included crossword puzzles and a Basic Aid Training booklet.

Moyer noted that her graphic designer daughter, Karen Chow, had adapted the drawings to be "culturally sensitive." The girls wore longish dresses and the boys had on suspenders.

"Don't be afraid to call me," Moyer said before she left. "I'm happy to come and get a group together."

Kaye Martin said she plans to do just that again, in February.

She heard about Moyer's program from a home-schooling friend. "I like the idea of learning the health and safety with the children here," said Martin, who has nine children, ages 3 to 19.

"I had taken CPR already," Martin added, "but it's good to be refreshed on this stuff. ... It's so nice for the home-schoolers to get this professional help."

Her son, Nathan, who was good-naturedly helping Moyer lug her equipment to the car, took a practical view of emergency preparedness.

"It's not something you want to face," he said, "but it's something you need to learn."