To think that this child needed to go to A&E?

Yes, good points.

Well that's scary! Last year my son, then two, fell about two metres from some play equipment (knocked off by an older child by accident). He was fine with no symptoms of concussion etc thanks to the bark flooring but we still took him to A&E and didn't leave until doctors were sure he was ok. It was terrifying. I wouldn't take any chances with a fall like that.

It isn't just the vomiting...or even the sleepiness & confusion. But the swelling to the face and - I'm going to say it again - the mechanism of injury. The child needed to be assessed for skull & face fractures too.

When assessing the need for A&E you should always take into account how the injury occurred, not just the presenting symptoms. Head injuries are particularly tricky. A metre fall onto concrete is serious.

Far better to be sent away from A&E for the 8th time than not go in when someone has a brain haemorrhage or brain swelling.

Any child vomiting and subdued after a head injury should automatically be taken to emergency. I would have been very uncomfortable too.

I’m curious, how old was the child? To be left unsupervised on I’m assuming playground equipment - was either parent watching them?

I wonder if the reason they refused to go to A&E was because of the risk of them being reported to SS? If their child has had previous injuries and they’ve been, this visit could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back and got them reported, especially if their child is young, it sounds like neglect.

In the past I'd have agreed with the posters above. However, my sons have had concussion 4 times now. On each occasion, we've been to A&E and been sent home after the briefest look in their eyes. My friend was told that unless the vomiting continued a one off up chuck was not a worry. I take each occasion on its own merits, but I won't always go in future unless I feel there are symptoms I haven't seen before or something doesn't feel right. I kept the leaflet and know what to look out for. I check every couple of hours through the night.

I've had no first aid training at all but even I know that after a head injury, vomiting and sleepiness are not good signs. I would absolutely have taken her to A&E. It's very wierd that the parents didn't 😳 I hope the child is ok 😔

I'm very relaxed and have never had either of my very clumsy children checked out after any of their thousands of head bumps of varying degrees of nastiness. I definitely would have in those circumstances though.

No, the mechanism of injury is key here. The child fell a metre onto concrete.

They also displayed visible injuries the head/face and were vomiting within the hour.

Yes, on balance I would have taken straight to a&e.

Also I'm a reluctant a&e user/ healthcare worker and so there's one exception- if i knew my child always vomited when they were upset. Depending on where I was in the country if this is the case, and if there was a choice of facilities, I might phone 111 and see if they'd advise a particular a&e/ make an appointment within an a&e (if this is offered locally). That way, I might phone 111, continue with day whilst it's arranged and attend 4 hours later and be seen immediately instead of an a&e wait (where my child might get more and more upset and start vomiting again). We've got 2 local a&e's 10 minutes away and one of them works like this out of hours/ weekends and it works really well. But on balance I think I would have actually just a&e'd this. Not worth risking.

The problem is with the huge waiting times in A&E I can understand why parents are reluctant. My son banged his head at school and then threw up at home, we waited 8 hours in A&E on horrible uncomfortable chairs, my son was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed, it was horrendous and when we were eventually seen they said he seems fine go home

Those parents are idiots Natasha Richardson banged her head, didn't want to go to hospital and ended up dead later than day.
Hopefully their child is okay, that's neglect if ever I saw it, just because they didn't want to wait in A & E

Vomiting is a sign of concussion, very dangerous. I would definitely have called an ambulance.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-injury-and-concussion/

Good list here of things to be aware of, and yes, they should have taken them.

So if no vomiting you wouldn't take them?

if that had been any of mine when they were young then yes for sure .

Parental choice, but not necessarily what I’d do in that scenario

Some people are just idiots.

Whilst yes, personally I would have taken my dc to a & e for similar, current advice is repeated vomiting after a head injury. A single episode of vomiting advice is to monitor at home. But, I'd ignore that and still take them if worried.

I am usually on the slightly more relaxed side but yes absolutely should have gone to A&E, there are clear symptoms of concern and a known incident involving the head. Unbelievable that they refused.

I would have called 999 too.

When they both refused to be responsible adults someone else should have taken over and put the child's interests first.

I got to the bit about the dc vomiting and thought yes a&e asap.

But with something like that I would have gone to a&e regardless

Also have basics first aid training

Yup, 100% a&e.

Hope the child is ok!

Sounds like a barn door A&E job.