To be completely furious with my daughters school?!

[bigfam]

So yesterday I picked my children up from school, dd1 was crying at the door, so I asked her what was wrong and she told me that whilst practicing for sports day she had fallen and hurt her foot, she refused to walk properly, I asked her if she'd been to the medical room (because only the week before she collapsed after school, after not feeling well, the school told her to have a drink and she'd be fine) she said she had and that they'd put an ice pack in it and sent her on her way, they didn't even remove her sock.

Fast forward a few hours, I knew something was wrong, so took her to a&e and sure enough it's broken, she's now in q cast for 4-6 weeks.
Aibu to be furious that they didn't call me, and left her in agony and unable to walk for 2 hours? She was clearly in pain and had been crying and after her collapsing last week I specifically asked them to keep an eye on her.
I'd like a meeting with the head teacher, I won't lose my temper but I'm very upset, is there anything I can do? Thanks in advance

Not recording the incident is something to mention but otherwise putting ice on it is fine. I would find out how she was in class afterwards.
I told my daughter that she hadn't broken her arm and it was 6 hours later when she said "mummy its really sore" that I took her to A&E oops it was broken. I'm a GP. It can be really difficult to diagnose at first even if she had take the sock off.
I hope she feels better soon though

Thanks for all the well wishing. The head isn't available today but I've been told he'll call when he gets time, the office did seem a bit shocked, and one of dd's teachers came over to me and said she'd assumed she was ok as she was walking (but awkwardly)
I'm just a bit upset because of the brush off she had with not feeling well last week then collapsing and now this.

They didn't assess her properly and as a pp said you err on the side of caution. The school nurse (who don't exist in my council anymore) was always at the hospital, she never missed a broken bone. People covering her lunch did but she'd always re-check quick phone call to mum / dad they'd meet her in a and e.
It's not hard to go 'I'm not sure, let's get it checked out'

I would of appreciated a call so there was the option for me to go and see her so I could decide what to do and if I felt that she needed to go to a&e pp, I asked them because the week before she was unwell and it resulted in her ending up on the floor of the shop floor.

My dd had a similar accident. When I collected her it looked completely normal. The swelling didn't start until later. The bruising didn't even show for a few days.

Even the doctor thought she looked fine, until the x-ray came back showing a crack along the bone.

I would contact the school to find out what happened and give them a chance to find out what (if anything) went wrong with this particular incident.

I swear at every single primary school my DC have attended, for every single injury, even if your head fell off, their procedure was "apply a wet paper towel". It's now a catchphrase in our house. Now at secondary, One school rang me the other day as a Dd "felt a bit funny"..

There has to be a middle ground between a and e for a minor bruise and a wet paper towel on a broken leg - but it's hard for parents to assess injuries, let alone school first aiders who don't know the child.

I don't see the point in coming down hard unless they were negligent in recording or assessing the injury - if they weren't and they followed procedures, it's just one of those things sadly where the injury appeared less serious at first.

I dread a child injuring themselves at my house, it's ny worst nightmare. I hope you all have good public liability with your home insurance

I hope your DD feels better soon.

I would speak to the school to try and understand their procedures and check that they followed them before complaining tbh. I have known quite a few parents not realise an arm/hand/ankle is broken immediately following a fall, so that itself wouldn't bother me, more how it was recorded and dealt with.

How old is she btw sorry if I have missed it?

What happened exactly re the "collapsing" what was the cause?

I'm a teacher and definitely of the "get off the floor, you're fine" variety...

However, a kid with a swollen joint, wich wasnt getting much better after an hour with an ice pack would be sent home or to A&E.

It's fairly straightforward. Things do get missed with older ones though, usually boys who insist on hobbling on with a stiff upper lip.

I went a few days with an undiagnosed fractured wrist when I was about 11 due to a fall from a top bunk at home. When it happened my parents were more concerned about my head which was also bumped! Two days later my whole forehead was a technicolour bruise but my arm was swollen at least twice the size,purple and agony so a trip to a&e was finally made! My mum still tells me how mortified she is about not listening to me about my arm sooner!

That being said, as a primary school teacher, broken bones are my worst nightmare! I'd certainly be over cautious rather than lackadaisical!

" the fact she couldn't walk and was crying I'm pain was a good indication it was more than they thought it was"

I was crying in pain and couldnt walk when I pulled out of a 10k run last week. It wasn't broken. Not all pain indicates a serious injury that requires attendance at A&E and the fact that your DD had to wait a bit longer to get it treated wouldn't have made the injury worse.

Hope she's better soon.

But she hadn't been running 10k

what on earth would she have been able to do at school that would mean there were other explanations for prolonged pain and inability to walk other than suspicion of a more serious injury than first thought.

On my first aid course, the instructor said that broken bones in children can be very hard to spot. They tend to be brave and with some types of break will carry on walking. But, he also said, that this is reason to be more cautious about injuries and to go to A&E sooner rather than later. Because an x-ray is the only sure way to diagnose.

So I don't think the school should be criticised for not realising it was broken, but they should have been more alert to the possibility and called the OP sooner so that proper medical advice could be sought.

There are plenty of injuries - tendon injuries, sprains, that result in swelling and soreness but if you attend A&E they tell you to rest it, apply ice, take anti-inflammatories and elevate it. And yes, those injuries can be caused by a simple trip or fall. I just don't understand all these fury about this - a misjudgement was made and her treatment was delayed a little.

Your missing the point *iriano"

what I meant was she wouldnt have been able to be doing anything that meant that she was just exhausted or needed to sit and drink something or exerted herself so much that it was plausible a few mins rest was all that was needed.

She fell which is a common cause of various injuries. son of which are minor and kid would have been back playing in minutes. but one serious enough such as a sprain or pulled tendon or break would surely he the train of thought after a much shorter time given the results of said injury and girls behaviour

sprains etc usually require an examination first so teachers would not be qualified to make that call which is why she should have been sent home or to a&e sooner.

She had a bug when she collapsed, I think she'd just had enough by the end of the day and just gave up, it was also warm and perhaps she didn't drink enough aswell, but there were no problems before school

I do think you should speak to the school, but not go in all guns blazing.

It is important that they review their procedures, and better they do so after this incident, where little harm was done, that wait until something really serious happens.

"You can't tell the difference between a fractrure and a sprain (except compound fracture where skin is borken). Unless the pain and swelling persists."

Which is why they should be taken to A and E! If there is enough pain.

My DH fell playing badminton, a month after the event his elbow still hurt and he had a day annual leave, so he went to our GP. Who sent him to the hospital for an X-ray (only because DH is a musician). He had a fractured wrist. DH had travelled across Paris with suitcases in the intervening month.

Oh your poor little one. Not surprised you're angry. You're entitled to be. It seems by your post there has been a complete disregard for care. The big that's getting me is when you said you found her at the door crying. Was no one comforting her. If this were my child I'd feel nuclear.
Yes arrange a meeting with the HT. this is not good enough. None of the staff would accept this for their children. I'm telling you they wouldn't, so why should you accept it.

We see so many threads on MN where someone posts something and the first responses are " are you sure that's what happened" or "X/y would never do that there must be a mistake your child has misunderstood" etc. There's often little belief in what the child has said even when.the op has stated that their child don't usually lie or isn't known fir exaggerating etc.

my worry would not so much be that they missed a break as without an xray no one could be sure. but the fact that the behaviour exhibited in the child , in this instance crying and not walking on her foot, was dismissed to the point that her sock wasn't even removed and the crying just ignored. that's what I'd be pissed about. that's my dd had been treated as a drama queen and sent to class rather than calling the parent. It had to have hurt shed broken her ankle.