Son fractured wrist at school and nothing was done!

[mrsshep]

My son (9) fell in the playground on friday at playtime, badly hurt his wrist and was looked at by a first-aider. She asked him to wiggle his fingers (he could) and then said there was nothing wrong with him and sent him back out to the playground. He then went back into class, and was apparently (according to his concerned friends) sobbing all afternoon. His teacher didn't ask what was wrong (presume she hadn't been made aware of the incident) and he had to carry on working for the rest of the day with no attention. At hometime when I saw him it was immediately apparent that he was extremely distressed, and just one look at his wrist was enough to see something was clearly not right. A different first aider looked at it, and suggested I get straight to a&e, which we did. Turned out that he had a distal radius fracture. I am very upset that noone thought to phone me/tell me, and he didn't have an accident/bump slip. When I went in to school yesterday to discuss it and express my concerns at the way he was dealt with, I asked several times about the accident book record and said I wanted to see it. I was basically told they'd look into it and get back to me. I would appreciate your thoughts/advice x

My DD1 fell over and made a fuss. Her teachers offered to let her go swimming (special school) to distract her because she can be a drama queen. She gladly went swimming, but was still fussing afterwards. They phoned me and I took her up to A&E - fractured bone in her hand!

They did exactly the right thing in my view.

My dd fell at school and really hurt her elbow. When I took her to A&E that night, the receptionist asked what school she was at. This is because they send a letter to the school when a child hurts themselves at school.

Oh this is really out of order, yes.

MrsShep I'm so sorry for your poor boy.

It sounds like our primary so I won't ask where you are!!

But I understand what you mean about the teacher not being sympathetic and assuming the children are making a fuss for nothing, or lying etc - we had one of those last year, she kept telling ds he was making things up when he wasn't. It really upset him.

Fwiw I would go in today and ask to speak to her right there. It sounds like she ignored him for her own reasons and they were inadequate.

Not having a broken bone treated immediately is potentially quite serious.
If his friends say he was crying all afternoon then one of them probably told the teacher this at some point and she refused to listen. (might be wrong but it's how it normally works at ours - they do care about each other in the class)

That sounds very unfair. I think the HT needs to be in on this too.

I managed to break my friend's arm when we were 8 (well I was playing chase with her and she slipped on some ice - so not technically my fault!)
She was very tearful. Being the horrible teacher's favourite though (from the family who was highest up in the church) she got sent to the hospital straight away.

I'm surprised I didn't get a total bollocking. But if it had been one of the 'naughty' children (ie poor, disadvantaged or black - yes really) I can imagine them being ignored all day.

I think you need to hear the school's version of events.

I completed a riding lesson with a broken arm aged 9.

louge but your dd school knows she has a tendency to be a drama queen... That isn't the case of the OP's dc.

Tbh even if the OP's ds wasn't crying, from what she said his behaviour must have been different in class. Otherwise his friends wouldn't have noticed altogether, let alone gone to see her and told her.

At my dcs school, I've had it the other way. I have sent my ds to school just to be told off that the teacher though he wasn't well enough to be there (GP had said 'Yep he is OK. Send him to school' too). She was able to pick up clues that he wasn't very well and he wasn't crying. Just a bit quieter than usual.

OP I agree with you, totally not on, esp related to the teacher and the fact there was no accident slip either even though it is not unheard for one of my dcs to come back home with another child's accident slip.
I would carry on insisting that they show you the accident book and ask them what they intent to do to be sure it doesn't happen again. Training of the first aiders can be one of them but also some follow up in class, such as change ion behaviour from the child or at the very least the teacher knowing about the fall, etc...

I do not think you can blame the first aider for missing a fracture, testing different movements is not taught on any first aid course for general fist aiders like at school/work. Advanced courses like St John's ambulance may cover it, the initial assessment though with hind sight was wrong could probably not be criticized for what presented at the time,

however you have a justifiable complaint for ignoring your sons condition in class all afternoon and the lack of record in accident book