What would you expect school to do when child breaks a bone at school?

[ThatlittlebellwentBOING]

Just wondered what you would expect from the school.
My child broke her arm at school yesterday and when I got called I was told it looked broken. I got their as soon as I can which still took me 20 minutes. They were holding her arm for her with an obvious bend in it.
I wondered if it should have been stabilised by a first aider into a sling as leaving school holding it and getting into car was so difficult. They said they would have but had no slings at school? They had given an ice pack.
It seemed such a long time til I could get there and no one could get there sooner. My parents wondered why they didn’t call a paramedic.
I’ve never dealt with these issues before and wondered what would considered a normal procedure to follow.
Thanks

( child has arm in a cast now it was badly broken by a simple fall)

I’ve been sent out to a child with a broken arm at a school. It was a normally busy day and took me two hours to get there. I found the child there with mother who had a car. No pain relief had been given. I gave calpol and ibuprofen and transported to hospital with said child sitting in a seat. Nothing was done that could not have been done by the parent much quicker.
Slings can make a break more painful and often the best way is self splinting with the child holding the arm in the most comfortable position. They are the only ones who know what hurts.

One reason why the school did not take them in a car themselves could also be that it would require two members of staff, appropriate car seats and for the car to have business use on its insurance.

I would always follow NHS advice rather than listening to random posters's personal opinion, when it comes to health related issues.

NHS advice is policy and evidence based posters' advice is based on their personal belief and mood. Too random.

Will - how is a layperson expected to know whether one of these is the case? I don't have medical training. I remember ambulances coming to school for children who had broken bones. I probably would take my own child by car if something happened at home, but at school I would have thought ambulance would be policy. I do see the issue with the wait though, but surely the problem isn't "People call ambulances for an emergency" and more "The NHS needs more funding for an adequate number of ambulances"? Perhaps a child with a broken arm doesn't need one but it's not like it's a stubbed toe or a cold.

I'm amazed schools don't have a first aider for the kids - mine are not at school in the UK but that has surprised me too.

I think the care given by the school was appropriate. Far better than ours!
Our school made a boy sit for half a day with a broken arm, no painkillers, no call home. He just sat all afternoon with a compress and was sent home with a bump note.
I thought you might have been his mother when I clicked on the post.

The last child I saw with a badly broken arm, an ambulance was on the scene within 10 minutes giving the boy gas and air! It wasn't an open fracture but it was bent at 45 degrees the wrong way. There was no way in the world he could have got to hospital any other way, he was grey with pain and going into shock. Im amazed at the blanket 'broken bone not an emergency' posts. It really can be! The ambulance service obviously agreed given how fast they arrived.

And yes the last child who broke a bone at my child's school also had an ambulance called. It's pretty standard for a bad break!

Call an ambulance. Ask to see their policy about accidents, first aid etc.

@ammy82 that's what I pay my taxes for (or whatever you said) what a great attitude. No wonder emergency services are so stretched with people calling 999 for non-emergency situations.

111 for a broken arm would be the more appropriate number to call.

NHS 111 is the NHS non-emergency number. You can call 111 when you need medical help fast but it's not a 999 emergency. NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

At the school I'm at there are a few teachers/ta trained in paediatric first aid, the rest of the staff have a basic 1st aid course! I think the school should of put it in a sling...but saying that I don't even think we have slings in our 1st aid bag!! Please remember 1st aiders are not doctors or nurses. As for school nurse are you kidding some schools cannot afford pens and paper.

School are useless when it comes to this sort of thing. My son had to have a little filling in his back tooth a while ago, I took him to the dentist they filled it, he was fine. Took him back to school, told them all about it in the office. When I picked my son up the side of his face was swollen up, he looked like he was chewing a golf ball. Turns out he had been to the office to tell them and they didn't even phone me to let me know, just told him to get a drink of water and go back to class. It was infected and he ended up on anti biotics.

For those who think an ambulance is your first point of help you need to imagine that one of your children has had an acute asthma attack, ca’t breath, can’t talk....and another has broken their arm but it’s a slightly funny shape but no bone through skin. The ambulance will take 40 mins to collect and take to hospital. Which one would you like them to collect? They can only do them one after another.

Once you’ve thought about that put the other one in a car (taxi?) and taken them yourself rather than wait.

Our school phone up the parent and let them decide but if there's any doubt they'll call the ambulance.

ILovePierceBrosnan Please read the NHS advice and stop guilt tripping people.

It's 111, 999 or make your way to minor injuries of accident and emergency provided it is safe to do so.

go to your nearest accident and emergency (A&E) department or call 999 for an ambulance if it's a bad break – minor fractures can often be treated at a local minor injuries unit

Whether you’ve paid your taxes or think there should be more ambulances on the road....there aren’t and in the meantime your insistence on using an ambulance to transport you to hospital means someone else with a greater need is waiting.

Ambulances are not taxis. They provide CPR and oxygen and manage haemorrhages. If you don’t need those things to reach hospital then don’t take them away from those that do

I don't know about an ambulance, when we call them they take ages as they triage the calls. I've sat on a floor for 2 hours with an adult bleeding heavily waiting for an ambulance and every other time the parent has arrived first and decided not to wait.
I do think someone could have gone with you though to help support her arm.

Elsa I think that there is no perspective on fractures which to be honest is completely understandable. If you’ve never seen a fracture dislocated ankle (which does require ambulance) then your child with a greenstick radius fracture probably seems to fit the bill for a blue light trip to the hospital. Which is why I tried to get people to think about whether it really can wait

Oh just remembered, my son with the dislocated knee was also going into shock.

I'm also a bit gobsmacked at the 'only call am ambulance if it's life-threatening' posts..

I know it's slightly off topic but this is what NHS says about (non-life threatening) dislocated knees, "if your kneecap hasn't gone back into place – call an ambulance: don't try to put it back in place yourself"

If this had happened at home, no doubt child protection would be involved

What rubbish. DS2 broke a bone at home and child protection services nowhere in sight. Why would they be?

I think it is quite shocking how many people would call an ambulance (unless other issues or bone sticking out). DS1 broke his ankle last week at school. It took about 2 hours before I got there and got him to A&E. Another hour before he was seen.

I have broken no less than four bones ... on no occasion would I have considered an ambulance. They are generally for life threatening emergencies.

That said they called one for me when my baby hit her head and was throwing up. My DH was away and I couldn't drive the thirty minutes to hospital with her vomiting. It took three hours to get an ambulance and I was high priority.

It's painful breaking bones but not so much you can't get into a car and go to hospital yourself. It's quicker and eases the pressure on ambulances.

Anyway in answer, they should have put it in a sling at least. I would def talk to them about it.

I’d call an ambulance for a knee which was dislocated and had not returned on its own Charley. It is too big a bone/limb to move without risking damage and disrupting nerves.

@charley50 comparing different injuries isn't helpful - much easier to take someone to hospital who can walk and weight bear than someone who can't.

Everyone remembers the sling part of their first aid course as kids, but the last few times I've done mine we've been told slings aren't first aid. Too much risk of making it worse and manually holding the limb is preferable (as you'll naturally adjust for discomfort, in a sling you can't)

Good post and advice 5778

ILovePierceBrosnan I would probably call 111 to be sure.