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)

Haha! Ambulance for broken arm? Heard it all now!

DD broke her arm recently at after school club, they rang us as soon as she hurt herself and DH was already enroute to pick her up, he then drove her to hospital. At no point did we or anyone consider ringing an ambulance as she wasnt in immediate danger and didnt need to be rushed to hospital.
When DS1 had appencitis i drove him in, its much quicker for me to drive them in then to wait hours for an ambulance (my friends gran fell over outside her house and had to wait 12 hours!! - I'd be very angry to think that the reason she waited so long was because people who didnt have a life or death situation or an injury that needed careful movement eg hip fracture/broken back etc so unable to sit in a car were using up the ambulances time)

People need to realise that the health service is a finite resource and that we should be doing as much self care as we can.
A broken arm hurts but its an injury that means you are able to sit in a car to the hospital. you arent going to die on the way. obviouslt different if youve been in someting like a crash and there ma be other injuries.factors at play or the bone has broken the skin.

Call the parents.

Red Cross advise call 999

@nokidshere a first aider is allowed to administer an epipen. They are not allowed to use an inhaler or an insulin injection. They can help but it has to be in the patients hand and the patient has to be the one pressing it. That is the law, I did a 4 day renewal course less than 6 months ago and we were explicitly told that.

I have been doing paediatrics first aid courses every three years for the past 20yrs. If the patient is unable to use their self medication you would not stand by and watch them die because "you aren't allowed to do it". It is not a law. It is best practice if they can do it themselves but if they can't what are you going to do? Nothing?

I've just received first aid training at school (but not in the UK) and the advice was NOT to put slings on but to have the child hold it however they are comfortable doing so, and then support that position (e.g. putting a jumper/cushions under their arm). Apparently this is partly down to people doing a botch job of slings or the wrong sort.

But she should certainly have been sat with a first aider the whole time she waited, so that they could keep an eye on the arm in case of blood flow getting restricted etc.

I wouldn't expect the school to call an ambulance in this situation but if a parent (or other suitable person) could not get there in a reasonable time I would expect the school to take her to hospital. But I have no idea how this works in most schools, as my UK experience is all in boarding schools. I spent plenty an evening in A&E with children in all sorts of states following sports injuries etc!

I hope your daughter is ok

I have children with brittle bone disease. Only once have we called an ambulance for a broken arm and that was when the child was in so much pain we couldn't move her. The ambulance crew gave her morphine and the arm was so badly broken it needed to be pinned. Generally I would say it's much quicker to drive a child in to hospital than wait for an ambulance and also the seating position is more comfortable (hospital trolleys are awful to sit on and you are still belted in). The only thing I would say is try and take another adult with you as you may have to park some distance away and it's easier on the child if they can be dropped off by the door. I would expect the school to have slings and if I was you I would be heavily suggesting that now.
Hope she is feeling better.

Worieddd NHS advice is 999 or walk-in-centre, are you saying you know better than the NHS?

Gold Stars for selective quoting there!
"mere broken arm likely to be " is the full quote, in context.

But you know, folk prefer to focus on only the words that you like to get riled up about. I guess getting riled up is a lot of fun for some.

Maybe the NHS should charge people for an ambulance if their condition is non life threatening.

And also start charging women for maternity services (lifestyle choice) injuries incurred through sports (lifestyle), and also charge people based on their weight, alcohol habit and whether they smoke, as well as charge the many pensioners who visit their GP weekly for mild symptoms such as cold or indigestions because they have no other support system and end up clocking up the GP waiting rooms.

Let's charge us all and be done with it.

I can't believe the moralising on this thread and people who are not qualified to advise telling others what sort of medical service to seek out.

There are all sorts of fractures, some need urgent medical attention, others don't even need a plaster cast. Some need complicated surgery others heal within a couple of weeks. Most posters are not medically trained so it's safe to ignore their moralising advice.

To anyone who is not sure, please ask 111 and don't believe that you are a burden to the NHS.

I know it's probably be said by some in this thread - I've not read every reply. But not all broken arms are equal

My son broke his arm earlier this year. It was a very bad break that required 3 hours of surgery and wires. We managed to drive him there but only because there were two of us - no way would I have been able to take him myself. He was in so much pain and was in shock he couldn't walk. If he'd done that at school I would expect an ambulance as I wouldn't be able to get to him for a while and there was no way no would have been able to wait.

I remember being in primary school my friend fell off a slide. They put wet blue paper towel on it and left her all day...

If the mum was able to come and collect I wouldn’t expect an ambulance.

It's not selective quoting! You said that a shoulder dislocation is likely to be more urgent than a 'mere' broken arm. So to give full context, you are saying a 'mere broken arm' might possibly be more serious than a shoulder dislocation, fine. But whichever way you cut it, you still used the dismissive word 'mere' to describe something which can be extremely serious.

Yes, I'm certainly het up, mainly at the idiocy of the numerous posters saying 'ahahaha ambulance for a broken arm, what snowflakes, they should be charged for wasting ambulance time'. It's nonsense. The fact of a broken arm tells you nothing about whether it is ambulance worthy. It might, or it might not! It depends on many factors, and not just whether there is a flesh wound! I find it staggering that this should even be in question tbh.

I would have expected the phone call from the school to tell me that an ambulance had been called, and which hospital my child was being taken to.
If this had happened at home, no doubt child protection would be involved. Do they get involved for incidents at school too?

If it is a simple clean break there's no reason to call an ambulance.

If someone is clearly howling with distress and pain because they have an open fracture (bones sticking out of the skin) then yeah, ring an ambulance. They'll be able to give gas and air. Same with a dislocation. If that person really can't move because their ball joint has popped out of their socket then ring an ambulance. Gas and air and then move the patient.

If you are in not too much discomfort to wait 20 minutes and sit in a car all the way to hospital, do that.

If it happened at home, I would expect, if you are unsure, to ring 111 and ask their advice.

@ElsaGooze NHS advice is certainly not blanket 'call 999' for a broken arm.

The NHS advice is to attend A&E as soon as possible or call 999 if it is a bad break.

I'm in genuine disbelief at the poor knowledge amongst posters here about the NHS and how it should be used.
If this is representative of the UK in genuine little wonder how the service is at breaking point.

Perhaps First Aid and common sense should be taught in secondary schools with an exam before leaving.

Failingat40 where did I say it was? I have copy and pasted NHS advice and emphasised to call 111 if there is any doubt please don't misconstrue my posts.

Those sneering at the idea of calling an ambulance need to have a think.
A child could easily do further damage if the broken limb isn't secured properly to stabilise it. Paramedics can do that. Circulation or nerves can be affected. It's not obvious, and random school staff wouldn't be able to tell what's a simple fracture that will heal easily and what isn't. Paramedics can give decent pain relief.
Not every parent drives. Or would be fit to drive if their child is injured. Taxis wouldn't take someone who is significantly injured.
Or could leave work immediately and works near-ish the school. Or gives a shit.
Not everyone lives near a hospital. It could be an hour's drive on bumpy country roads. Or maybe it's in a busy city - ambulances can bypass traffic.
The answer is really 'it depends', in this case the DM, OP was available and drives and was willing to do it. But don't discount calling an ambulance.

NHS website advises to call an ambulance for a broken bone if the child is in pain. So does common sense.
There was a thread not so long ago about the pitiful provision of first aid in a school.

It's extremely ignorant to think all fractures are the same.

Why can't people who have experienced simple straightforward fractures not understand that some breaks are horrendous?

Some fractures are complicated and require hours of surgery, others are 'minor injuries'.

As responsible parents we probably know that if our dc who doesn't normally bat an eye lid when they fall and hurt themselves is hysterical, pale and their limp bent and deformed that urgent help is needed.

You have to make a judgement on how to get to your nearest accident and emergency or minor injuries. If the child is witless, their limps completely deformed, you have other young children with you and are in a public space away from your car, what are you going to do? You have to get help safely and quickly. I am sure that if you called 111 in this situation they would send an ambulance.

Minor injury departments don't operate on fracture to my knowledge.

I'm not surprised that your average person doesn't always know how to appropriately deal with an accident when sometimes the call handlers and paramedics don't. I called an ambulance for an obvious stroke victim once and was told that they'd call back in 15 minutes or so.Time is so vital with a stroke so I called them immediately again. They did some checks over the phone so I don't know WTF? That was about.

I also had to call an ambulance for a person who was suffering extreme abdominal pain, was pale and weak and growing weaker . It was close to two hours before the paramedics arrived despite repeated callsThere was absolutely no sense of urgency with them, I appreciate that there were other emergencies but they didn't even bring their bag or anything with them so if the patient had deteriorated they had no equipment close to hand. They thought that she was overreacting but she died two days later of a twisted bowel.

Now most paramedics and call handlers are wonderful but considering that they don't always get it right it isn't surprising that the general public don't.

A bone in your child's leg or arm may be broken if they have pain and swelling, and the limb seems to be lying at a strange angle.

If you can't easily move your child without causing pain, call an ambulance.

I would have expected them to take the child to hospital. It’s weird that they didn’t. What if you couldn’t get there for a few hours?

The vast majority of broken arms do not require an ambulance. You can see if a bone is protruding or fingers are turning blue. If neither of those is happening then it is far quicker to get the patient to hospital yourself.

When I did my first aid refresher course, they told us that a child could support their own broken arm with their other hand/arm, and that a sling was not always necessary, especially if a child was not happy manoevering the arm into a position where the sling could be applied.

The vast majority of broken arms do not require an ambulance. You can see if a bone is protruding or fingers are turning blue. If neither of those is happening then it is far quicker to get the patient to hospital yourself.

You are talking nonsense. Dangerous nonsense.

The NHS advises you to call an ambulance for a child with a broken limb. Here is the link. Relevant information bottom of the page.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/accidents-what-to-do/#broken-bones-in-children