Can you believe it????

[Milims]

I came home last night to find my son sporting a very sore finger that was so swollen that it had gone shiney!! It seems that during a game of tag rugby that morning his finger was caught in the belt of another child and became injured. He reported it to his teacher who told him it would be ok and later when it was still hurting a classroom assistant gave him an ice pack. Later in the day his finger was still sore so he reported it to the head whos respose was that if the ice pack hadn't worked there was little she could do and he should tell his mum when he got home as she was busy now. After 2 trips to casualty (and a lost days work for both of us - I know I shouldn't winge but its the principle!), X-rays and pain killers my son is now sporting strapped up fingers and a sling. We know it isn't broken but because the swelling is so great they can't tell what the problem is so we have to go back on Saturday. According to the nurse, if it had been dealt with immediately it wouldn't have been so swollen.
The thing is I rang school this morning to establish exactly what had happened and to ask why I hadn't been informed immediately or even had a note sent home and I feel that I was fobbed off with an appropriately worded, but hardly meant, apology. When we took him to school this morning after his X-ray I asked about the accident report and offered the up-to date info on the situation and from the reply I don't even think that an accident report has been filled in!!!!!
Don't know how you would feel - but I'm furious!!! I thought that when we sent our children to school we could trust that they would be looked after and cared for in the same way as any parent would - but it seems that this may not be the cast after all!!!
Sorry for the rant but I'd be interested to know if any one else has had a similar experience.

Helen

[Shirley]

That doesn't sound right at all.... surely you should have been informed.

How old is your son?? I hope he's feeling a bit more comfortable now.

[manxminx]

that isn't right at all it should have gone in the accident book then they should have put an ice pack on which they did but when your son said it still hurt they should have phoned you to ask you to take him to the doctors to get it checked out as they did not do this and your son told the head who was " to busy " to deal with it i would suggest that if you do wish to complain you do so to the board of ed

hope he's feeling better now

[red]

yup thats pants - I would be pretty angry too!

[the.fee.fairy]

it is terrible, but unfortunately, its because teachers aren't supposed to touch an injured child.

I lived with some girls who were training to be teachers, and they were taight that they weren't allowed to put a plaster on the child, or touch the injured part, in case it made it worse and te paretns decided to sue.

They should have filled in an accident form though. That was bad.
And, they should have phoned you.

[baldowrie]

yes that correct and so wrong really!

All injuries have to go to the allocated first aider for the school, and every school should have at least one. Part of the job of the first aider is record the accident no matter how trivial it is.

However having been a first aider for nearly 30 years and trained in the health and safety aspect I have found a lot of first aiders in school very inexperienced and in one case dangerous....I have a tendency to take over when I have been called in with the associated looks from the first aider until they realise I am more experienced than them

[funkypixie]

I'd be fuming too. Schools (and therefore teachers) have a duty of care to our children and are expected to act in loco parentis (sp?). As such I would have expected at the very least to be informed when the swelling did not improve with the application of an ice pack and I would not have considered it overkill if he had been taken to casualty by a teacher as a precaution.

Have you thought about what you might do next? It may be worth writing and asking for a written copy of the policy in cases of injury to see if it was followed correctly. If it was followed correctly you could ask them to consider whether the policy should be changed.

I don't have a direct experience of something of this kind but my friend has. Her son was attending a swimming class when he got into difficulties. The lifeguard was not paying attention (chatting to the teacher apparently) and failed to notice him in the water. The other children eventually got his attention and the lifeguard rescued C, who was extremely distressed and traumatised by the whole event. The school in question made no attempt to contact my friend to inform her of the incident at any time. They made a half hearted apology when A phoned to ask them about the incident,
which was substantially glossed over.

I hope your son is feeling better now and there is no lasting damage.

Anna x

[Karen_D]

it is terrible, but unfortunately, its because teachers aren't supposed to touch an injured child.

I lived with some girls who were training to be teachers, and they were taight that they weren't allowed to put a plaster on the child, or touch the injured part, in case it made it worse and te paretns decided to sue.

.

Yes and no. Shouldn't there be at least one registered first aider on the site?

[Stonehead]

All injuries have to go to the allocated first aider for the school, and every school should have at least one. Part of the job of the first aider is record the accident no matter how trivial it is.

I'm not sure about Scotland, but when I did a first aid refresher in England three years ago I was told repeatedly that we were not to administer any first aid without the injured person's clear permission as witnessed by another person.

Further, that if it was an injured child we should not touch them without the consent and supervision of a parent, guardian or appropriate adult acting in loco parentis.

Also, if we were in the situation of needing to administer first aid to a person of the opposite sex, then permission should be explicity given and first aid administered only in the presence of another person of that sex.

When I asked what the position was with an unconscious patient or an unaccompanied child, I was told that it was a grey area but that in the UK at present I could not be sued for not helping, but I could be sued if I did help and it was either misconstrued or went wrong.

We actually spent as much time on the legal position as we did on the refresher training.

Hmm, I've just remembered something about the Scottish situation.

One of my neighbours is a youth worker and also works in schools. She's a qualified first aider and told me recently that she is not permitted to administer first aid without there being another, appropriate adult present who is also qualified in first aid (to verify that she is administering first aid and not behaving inappropriately).

The child's parents also need to be contacted first to check that it is okay for first aid to be administered.

She said she had real difficulty in deciding how to handle a situation when a boy suffered a serious graze along his thigh. The only way to check the injury was for his trousers to come down, but this is seriously frowned upon.

In the end, she got a couple of witnesses, explained the situation to everyone several times and then asked the boy to lower his trousers if he was comfortable with the situation. The graze was serious enough to warrant cleaning and dressing, but she decided it would be better to have his parents come and collect him than do it herself.

So, in Milim's case the school was probably "right" to do little or nothing about the injury itself, but definitely wrong not to phone home or fill in an accident report.

Don't we live in a daft world.

[Stonehead]

And a personal experience to show that things have't changed in more than 30 years.

When I was seven, I ran into a pile of scaffolding that had been left lying in the school grounds. One of the poles knocked my kneecap up and out through the skin. Yes, ugh!

I was taken to the school first aid room and left there. The incident happened at morning break and the school only remembered me when my mum phoned to ask where I was at the end of the day as I hadn't come home.

I'd lost quite a bit of blood, the piece of gauze a teacher had slapped on the injury had become clotted into it, and I was in shock. Needless to say, the eventual hospital treatment was traumatic to say the least and it took me quite a while to recover.

On the plus side, I can always tell when it's going to rain.

[Martin]

it was the much better in the "old days" - if you went flying and grazed your knee, one of the teachers would anoint you liberally with some lotion that either dyed your wound virulent purple, or if you were very lucky, bright yellow! - it stung to hell, and smelt inflammably alcoholic, but gave you a "badge" that would take days to wear off!

[Magpie]

Yep, me too - broke my wrist at school when I was 8. no first aid, and was sent home to an empty house, as I assured the teacher my Mum often didn't hear the phone... sat on the doorstep for hours!

[Milims]

Thank you all for your replies and support. I'm pleased to say that my boy is well on the road to recovery - they were worried about a break but x-ray showed none. Then they were worried that he may have tendon damage. However, now that the swelling has gone down considerably he's left only with ikky bruising - phew and fetch the arnica!!! He'll be doing all his chores by Saturday!!!
You are right Stonehead - we live in the daftest of worlds. How sad is it that we have to think not just twice but three times and then get witnesses before we offer help to someone whos's hurt. Then again - how sad are those people who think so badly of others? I guess its this americanised blame and claim culture that we have degenerated into that makes us forget compassion. I can only hope that our small family unit has the wisdom, compassion and bravery to do "the right thing" (sod the cynics), and hopefully mix with others that have the same out look, and maybe we can all make a difference!
Heres hoping!!
Milims - one and all - even the bruised one!!

[baldowrie]

It is a sad world when you can't help a person for fear of being sued.

Stoney it's a long time ago since I have done a refresher course, although I taught first aid to youngsters. The company I worked for had all it's first aiders heavily insured and also as I was in charge of the entire buildings first aid team, and also fire assembly points for aid, so I was always a called if a case came up that need assistance or support. So we always did hands on first aid in pairs any way.

I always ensured if I dealt with the public I got some one to 'assist' me, but actually whilst searching for identification I needed a witness that I was not stealing their belongings. This is just something we were trained to do, but thinking on it now it was just the beginning of this blame culture we now have!

[Stonehead]

and also as I was in charge of the entire buildings first aid team

Ooh, that's a scarey thought. I bet everyone recovered quickly...!!!