To make complaint about how DC's injury was handled at cheerleading class?

[Nocheerhere]

NC- regular reader, occ poster blah blah blah.

Last week DD sustained an injury whilst at cheerleading class. She described it as falling into her neck/shoulder coming out of a handstand. She was immediately in agony, screaming & crying in pain. She asked for me to be contacted & told they couldn't locate my number. DD is normally dropped off by her friends Mum, she asked them to contact her to contact me but they wouldn't.

DD was advised to keep mobilising her shoulder and was left at the side for the remainder of the class. When DH arrived to collect DD he heard her crying from the car park. She screamed all the way home (5 min journey). One look at her & it was clear she needed a&e.

Turns out DD had a suffered a nasty break in her collarbone. The days since the accident have been tough for her. No school. Needs assistance with toilet, eating etc. Pain has been such that she has subsequently been prescribed Dihydrocodeine as at one point breathing was causing her immense pain.

I really do not feel this incident was dealt with appropriately at the class. The advice she was given, if followed could have seriously complicated the injury. If it had been her neck I dread to think what the outcome could have been. It also breaks my heart that she was waiting there in agony for us & we weren't contacted.

I just wondered if any one runs a similar class, what procedures are in place? It doesn't sound like basic first aid or H&S procedures were followed. My concern is another child will be injured with far worse outcome. How should I go about approaching this with them.

Thanks

[YorkieDorkie]

Your poor DD! This was a clear cock-up.

Clubs like this need to err on the side of caution. No A&E department would begrudge a child coming to be checked out with a sports injury, even if it turns out to be nothing.

[exLtEveDallas]

That has actually made my stomach turn. Your poor DD. I cannot imagine the pain she must have been in, and the thought of her being told to move her shoulder

Similar class: my DD does gymnastics and netball. She has injured herself during both.

Both clubs phoned me within 10 mins of the accident - at gym it was a foot injury that was rapidly swelling, at netball it was a mouth/nose injury that kept bleeding. Both times DD was hurt but wasn't crying (bar initial shock).

At gym they followed RICE, sat her with their qualified 1st aider and advised me when I arrived to take her to A&E. They phoned me 2 hours later to see how she was (soft tissue injury despite presenting like a break), and the next day sent me an email with suggested exercises to help get her back to gym safely.

At netball their first aider had steri-stripped the cut to her mouth, saved the chip from her tooth in case it could be reattached (!) and had her sitting with an ice pack waiting for me. Again advised to go to A&E in case her nose was broken (thankfully not). The following week they said they didn't want her to play as she was still battered and bruised and in case she fell again.

In both cases the teacher, DD and I all signed the accident book and we were asked if we were happy with the treatment.

Thats how it should be done.

[SequinsOnEverything]

She was crying so loud that your dh heard her from outside and they just ignored her (beyond the initial terrible advice)and carried on the session or was someone sat with her? I'd not want to put my child in the care of people who could ignore a child screaming in pain.

They absolutely should have first aiders and a clear accident procedure to follow. Cheerleading is a very dangerous sport. Definitely complain.

[jelliebelly]

YANBU at the very least they should have up to date contact numbers and a qualified first aider - they need bloody reporting!

[Nocheerhere]

Thankyou so much for the replies. It's good to know IANBU, I feel confident in taking this forward now.

@TeenTimesTwo I will definitely follow your advice. I had planned to put my concerns in writing but requesting a timed response is an excellent idea!

@upsideup so sorry to here this happened to your DD. I don't think you let her down in anyway. You are right, all your energy goes toward caring for your child when something like this happens. If your daughter was hospitalised for a month I can only imagine what you went through. I really hope she is well now.

To answer some questions... DD is 10 and as others have mentioned, she will never be setting foot in that class again.

I'm off to draft a complaint incorporating all the brilliant points you have all raised. It isn't my intention to cause trouble, but I dread how much worse this could have been and don't want any other child to be at risk.

[Nocheerhere]

@exLtEveDallas Thank you. It's good to have this as guidance as to what should have happened.

[RandomMess]

Please look at your contract/registration forms. They should be affiliated to either BCA, ICC or one of the other organisations. You should have to pay a registration fee which is to include/cover insurance.

Coaches have to be qualified and there must be one over 18 in attendance. All coaches should have first aid training!

I suspect they couldn't be bothered to go look up her contact details/didn't believe how much pain she was in

[Notevilstepmother]

How awful. I’ve been a first aider for children at a club, I’d have called paramedics for a child with any possibility at all of a neck injury, and then you so you could go with her or take her to a and e as appropriate.

[Notevilstepmother]

Even if it’s clear it wasn’t a neck/spinal injury, she was obviously in a lot of pain, so again my judgement for a child in that much pain might be paramedics as they can assess and can give painkillers if needed.

Collarbone is something that should be checked and even just a sling might have made her more comfortable as it takes the weight off and keeps it still.

[BackforGood]

The people they hire the room from would probably also be interested in the fact they are just not running the event properly.
Oddly, my dd has just broken her collar bone - it is incredibly painful.
The list of things they did wrong is just appalling - for any activity, let alone one where there is an obvious risk of injury. COntact details and knowing how to respond to an accident are really basic for any group, without the dangers of cheerleading.

[Nocheerhere]

Thanks @RandomMess I'll check the paperwork & website for those affiliations.

@BackforGood yes I'm thinking of doing this. The class takes place in a school, so I think they should be made aware

[emmyrose2000]

YANBU

Your poor daughter.

DD is normally dropped off by her friends Mum, she asked them to contact her to contact me but they wouldn't
The club refusing to contact the other mum would make me absolutely LIVID. Presumably your friend would then have contacted you immediately, which would have lessened the time DD sat there crying in agony.

The club obviously needs to implement proper emergency procedures, including contacting parents/guardians immediately an incident occurs or should be closed down.

[liminality]

Absolutely take it farther, I do a number of high impact sports and have never heard of trainers being so inefficient and poorly trained in first aid. Disgraceful.
That said, why did your husband take her home instead of straight to A&E?

[BertrandRussell]

Don't put in the bit about not blaming the leaders. The accident probably wasn't their fault but everything subsequently was.

[BertrandRussell]

Although I might question the training she has received if she suffered an injury this severe doing a simple handstand.......

[newyearoldme]

Yes, don't mention anything about not considering it the trainers fault as you can (and should) legally go after them for their negligent mishandling of the situation.

[Ivegotfamilyandidrinkcupsoftea]

Yanbu op this sounds terrible!

[dancinfeet]

Firstly, doing cheerleading, acrodance etc does come with some amount of risk of injury (as with a lot of sports) but in order to reduce the risk, your daughter should not have been permitted to attempt any gymnastic or tumbling skill that she is not competent with without a spotter.
The club should have a qualified first aider at all sessions, and should also have public liability insurance. It sounds as though they handled it badly, and that possibly no one has first aid training. At the very least they should have had someone take a proper look and administer basic first aid, fill out an accident book and call you immediately. I would also expect a follow up call or email.

[LIZS]

There should be a procedure in place for emergencies and injuries, including provision of first aid trained instructor, having contact details to hand, to call parent/carer and follow up. It is a a serious safeguarding failure to leave a child crying in pain and not do anything. The inherent risk in the activity makes it all the more critical. Is the group affiliated to an organisation who in themselves may have such policies? Make a formal complaint highlighting an apparent lack of or adherence to a policy. Hope dd feels better soon.

[RandomMess]

To be honest doing handstands are not high risk and a very basic exercise that hundreds do daily on the school playground! It's one of the first things they learn before tumbles.

Presumably they were on rich mats if not a sprung floor so I can imagine the coaches assuming she couldn't have hurt herself that badly. However it doesn't excuse not calling the parent and ignoring the fact your DD was clearly in considerable distress/pain.

[ScrubTheDecks]

My organisation rents space for youth activities like this and we would very much want to know if Safeguarding and First Aid requirements were not being met. We would be failing in our duty if care and our own safeguarding if we made space available for clubs with inadequate practice.

Is this taking place in a school or a church or village hall type setting?

[BertrandRussell]

"o be honest doing handstands are not high risk and a very basic exercise that hundreds do daily on the school playground!
Absolutely. Which is what makes me wonder if there was more to this than meets the eye. All the more reason for the OP to be very careful what she puts in writing.

[steppemum]

Just to compare, dds class went ice skating, child fell over and was obviously in pain. The first aiders came checked her over, wrapped her in tin foil thing as she was in shock, gave advice, teachers called school, who contacted parents. The first aiders thought it was just a sprain, and she wasn't very vocal, but was obviously in pain. Adult sat with her at all times reassuring and comforting.

Lesson was nearly over, so they decided to take her back to school, carried her out to the coach, parent met them at school, and was advised A&E. Turned out to be a nasty break.

To be honest doing handstands are not high risk and a very basic exercise that hundreds do daily on the school playground!

sorry, but that is a silly comment. I broke my ankle badly in 3 places slipping of the bottom step on a flight of stairs - doing something everyday doesn't mean you can't have a nasty accident doing it. She obviously came down awkwardly, landed badly etc.
The issue is not HOW it happened, no suggestion of neglect, but what they did AFTER it happened

[Greenandcabbagelooking]

Here is what would happen at my dance school.

Once it was decided that child couldn’t be comforted by us, and only mum would do, parent would be called.
First aid would be given - ice, support to get comfortable.
Someone would sit with child to keep an eye on her, and to chat.
Accident book filled in, parent given a copy.
We would evaluate what happened and why, and appropriate changes would be made.

If it was a serious injury, we would call ambulance, then call parents.

[RandomMess]

@steppemum - my comment was actually to the fact someone should have been "spotting" - handstands on the floor no they wouldn't be!

Any sort of stunt they would be but that would be level 5 I should think, or could have been coming down from another stunt and it went wrong. Sadly even with good spotters and bases it does go wrong sometimes - hence it being the female sport with the highest injury/death incidence