If you get a call from school to say child needs A&E

[Explaintome]

Would you still tale them even if you disagree?

Ds hurt his wrist in PE. I expect it hurt at the time and will be sore for a few days but he seems to have full mobility and there very little swelling.

If it was my wrist I'd wait and see. School insisted I should tale him to A&E. Personally I didn't really feel there was any reason for him not to be in school.

Anyway, I did take him because I was worried that going against their orders advice would look like neglect and as expected , there's nothing wrong and I've been made to feel a time waster.

Would you have had more confidence in your own judgement or gone along with the school, just in case?

I would have taken him to a walk in clinic if he was in significant pain. A pharmacist would do nothing for this, GP's in my own experience won't see an injury (i have asked ours before when ds hurt his ankle and just wanted a check).

However, I suspect school like a pp said the school would report to social services if they felt you had made the wrong call.

Honestly though, I'm surprised at a school even calling you. My kid just gets the wet paper towel treatment for all ailments and no one ever seems to know what's happened anyway.

We don’t have paediatric walk in, so I would have phoned 111.

I would have went - my daughter fractured her wrist 7 weeks ago and I was convinced it was just a sprain because of how well she handled it. She barely cried although mobility was minimal unlike what you say.

I'm a bit of a safe rather than sorry person and always expect to be told that I'm worrying about nothing but in this case I did the right thing, so I'm glad I had it checked properly.

They may not be “medically trained” but they will be 3 day first aid trained. Part of that is recognising early signs that something serious could have happened.

Tbh any swelling after an injury could indicate a fracture and yes, they’re covering their arses because their first aid book has a section to add “advice given to parents” and if that says nothing then they could be in trouble if it turned out something HAD happened.

But also they don’t know how seriously a parent might take it if there WERE signs of a serious injury and their first duty is to protect the child. Leaving a child in school with a potential break or concussion etc is irresponsible.

Sending them home to be observed one to one by their parent instead is the best thing to do, and advising that an X-ray is the best way to check for a potential fracture IS the right thing to do. 9/10 time it’s nothing, but that 1/10 would be awful if it ended up being missed due to not wanting to waste anyones time.

I'd probably have made my own judgement. I was told by a walk in centre to attend the ED and I decided not to because I really didn't think I had what they were worried about. Given the litigious nature of life nowadays people tend to make recommendations defensively and based on the safest possible course of action.... but often that isn't the most suitable action.

I'd make my own judgement. I'd call 111 rather than go straight to A&E if I felt it was necessary for something like that.

In fairness to our school, I was called for DD who had face planted- the school asked me to go and pick her up and said “we think she needs to be seen at the MIU” but they didn’t insist and didn’t ask if I was going to take her. She absolutely did need to be seen as well, bless her.

I collected ds3 from the after school club at 6pm and on the way out of school, happened to bump into his class teacher who asked if his head was ok now. It transpired that he had fallen backwards (was pushed) and bumped the back of his head in the playground. On checking he had a large grazed bump and blood in his hair. It had been treated with a wet paper towel. No one had thought to mention it to me.

First aid training does not train you to recognise that something serious may have happened in minor trauma. (Trainer speaking).

On the one hand we're bewailing the lack of ambulances/waiting times for medical treatment/strain on GPs, on the other hand we're insisting every tiny bump is "checked out" "just in case". It's ludicrous that OP felt she had to go to A&E not her child needed it but because school had shamed her into it. And OPs judgement was clearly better than whoever was covering their arse at school.

Rant over.

At a [secondary] school where I worked a girl slipped on a set of concrete steps, banged her head and briefly lost consciousness. As per head injury protocol the school called an ambulance and then her mother.
The mother's response: 'But I'm due out to lunch with my girlfriends! Just let me know if they think it's serious! Bye!'
Please do not be that mother.

No one has X-ray eyes, you take them to A&E to be sure it’s not a break. So what if it’s a waste of time, at least you know it’s not broken. GP and out of hours is pointless as they’d also tell you to go to A&E.
The school can’t win can they? They did the right thing. I’m sure you’d have been the first to complain if they didn’t say anything.

I had an injury at school that had little swelling and was deemed unnecessary by my Mum to take me to A&E. I had a broken arm. Personally I'd rather err on the side of caution as the damage from that still impacts on me and I'm 53! A child in DS's class walked round with a broken wrist for a week recently as it was dismissed as "just a strain". So I wouldn't have left it personally.

The staff at the school are no more qualified to than you are at diagnosing an injury, they have to err on the side of caution to cover themselves.

when my dd was at school and had an accident, quite a while ago now, the teacher was getting her to wiggle her fingers and on the basis that she could said her wrist wasn't broken - I was a radiographer at the time and told her being able to move your fingers does not mean a wrist isn't broken .

My son fell out of his high chair. His head positively thumped on the floor. We headed straight to A&E. My son was a merry little baby, giggling at the doctor, pulling the pens out his pocket. The doctor was laughing too and saying he was fine, we could go home. But I asked for an x-ray because I heard the thump when he fell. So the doctor sent us for one, more for my sake than the baby,'s. And there it was a bleed on the brain.
They kept us in for three days for observation.
Things aren't always obvious to the naked eye. X-ray machines are there to use.

I would have gone to a&e based on being the child who wasn't believed. In primary school I broke my foot in morning pe. Teacher didn't believe me and I was forced through a full day in pain and being chastised by staff and other students for faking it. My mum also didn't believe me initially and I was left until bedtime after pick up. Only then did I get taken for medical attention and low and behold I had broken my 3rd and 4th metatarsal. This was the first of multiple times I was accused of faking it as a child and every time I was proven right.

I agree with this. My DD's "sprained wrist" after a fall in the playground, turned out to be a green-stick fracture. She, too, could move her fingers and there was not much swelling at the time. Never assume a sprain is just that when it comes to children, most of the time it is but best to err on the side of caution.

An X-ray wouldn't show a bleed on the brain .

I would seek medical advice, whether it was via A&E or some other channel. Mainly just to cover myself for fear of being viewed as neglectful 😬

My (teen) daughter fainted in the shower one morning a couple of years ago. She seemed fine afterwards and we deduced that it had happened because she has the water very hot and she had been sitting down in the shower before suddenly getting up. She also had her period at the time so had been feeling a bit delicate generally. I checked her head for bumps and checked for signs of concussion (there were none). She was keen to go to school so off she went.

Two hours later the school phoned to say she had a black eye and was feeling queasy. She had told them about fainting in the shower and they told me to take her to A&E. Imagine my shame! I went to collect her and took her straight to the hospital. She was completely fine, but I did feel bad. In my defence, the bruising hadn’t appeared when she left for school!

Unless a parent is a medically trained HCP, they also may ‘dish out rubbish advice’. The child will most likely have been seen by a first aider. There will be a record of the accident. Schools have a duty of care to be cautious, more cautious than a parent may be in the same circumstances. Better that than have their asses sued off them by parents such as you.

I'm not sure what advantage being a HCP would bring in a school playground.
As far as I know HCPs don't have x-ray eyes either.

Teenage son did in food tech and they said a & e. I didn't think it needed it but we were going through family court so I took him anyway to cover my back

I would probably have tried to go to a walk in clinic instead, but if the school advised A&E then I would go. Partly because I wouldn’t want to look lazy or neglectful, but also because I’d think they saw it happen and have more experience of children being injured than I do. I think it’s understandable that a school would be more cautious than a parent. The school did the right thing by calling you and letting you make the decision.

I think you can use a bit of common sense. A&E isn't the right place for a sore wrist anyway, surely minor injuries is?

Depends on the way things are organised by the NHS where you live @WonderingWanda