Son comes back from school trip with fracture

[debsadoos123]

Hi, first time poster, please be kind. I picked my 14 year old DS up from school at 4pm today after he'd been away for a week skiing. When I got to him he had a makeshift bandage on his wrist and the teacher explained that someone had fallen into him yesterday morning and that my DS complained of extreme pain in his wrist. The said teacher went on to explain that they didn't seek medical attention because if it was broken then my DS wouldn't be able to fly home. They had taken him to a chemist and purchased a bandage and applied it.
By the time we had got home (10 min drive) my son was crying in pain so we went straight to A&E... Long story short, he has fractured a bone in his wrist. He is now in plaster and we have to return in 10 days for a bone scan.
Would I be unreasonable to make a complaint to school about their lack of action and failing to provide a duty of care?

A bone scan is a nuclear medicine scan, using a radioactive tracer injected into the blood and taken up by the bones, usually to look for bone infection from joint replacements or spread of mets in cancer patients . Are you sure you don't mean an X-ray?

I'd complain to the school. Totally unacceptable! He would have been able to fly home. I work in radiology and we get hundreds of people come in who have broken bones on holiday, been treated and flown home for further imaging and treatment.

Would (posted & ran OP) have been happier if he had been kept in ski-holiday country (diagnosed & treated there) & OP had to go over there to fetch him, he missed school etc? Would you like the trip to be short on staff for return journey, or for teacher to lose their job ... else what outcome does OP want? Would a mere "apology" and "review of policies" satisfy?

It sounds like he's on the mend & 100% zero harm was done.

I took a kid to xray yesterday for suspected broken arm, 26 hours after the original injury, so I can relate to how these decisions get made. Have had many a broken arm myself, too.

Not read all the replies but I've worked as a ski rep and been a teacher on ski trips. They should definitely have sought medical help. If it was broken and the.medical staff know you're flying, they can put a cast on with a gap to allow for any swelling that is safe to fly with. They can also get a fit to fly note. I'd definitely complain!

I’d be annoyed. Hopefully no lasting damage. My daughter had a broken wrist not plastered for 24hrs last summer as she didn’t tell her auntie she hurt her wrist when she fell off a scooter. Only told her when she asked her if she wanted a shower and she said she couldn’t as she couldn’t use her wrist! When we met them at the hospital it was visibly broken. Thankfully no lasting damage after 6wks plaster and few weeks in a splint

It doesn't matter if the OP would have been pissed off at having to go abroad to collect her child. That shouldn't have entered the head of a teacher.

A child needed medical treatment, the teacher said so themselves, and they chose not to bother getting it.

Unless said teacher is also a qualified doctor and has x-ray vision and knew - knew, not thought - the bones were in line, the fracture wasn't bad and there was no danger of a blood clot or other problems during the flight then the inconvenience factor shouldn't have come into the decision of "Does this child need to go to hospital?"

When you go on trips you have to factor in the nightmare of a child getting injured at the worst possible moment. You hope and pray it doesn't happen, but if it does you have to deal with it appropriately. Not just ignore it for over 24 hours

If the school really cared about your son’s wellbeing they would have taken him straight to a hospital when the plane landed in the UK. Instead they chose to do nothing in either country. The excuse that he wouldn’t have been able to fly is garbage because they still chose not to seek medical attention when they got back to the UK. This is gross negligence on their part and I would be complaining very loudly.

"Had it gone the other way, we would have a thread with a parent annoyed at having to drop everything and fly to France (or wherever) to collect their child with a bruise on their wrist."

No
If a hospital assessed it was only a bruise, then he would have flown home with the others

The teacher said they didn't want to take him to hospital in case he couldn't fly back on time

• which would only happen if thee was a fracture AND if the airline was one of those which won't allow even a split cast

The teachers chose not to contact the OP to ask whether she wanted her child to have medical attention,
or to leave him in pain until he got home

Outrageous to decide this on their own - for their own convenience ?

So sorry for the delay in replying. I didn't expect so many replies and as yet haven't had the chance to read them all...just the first few pages. I will however make time later to give each reply careful consideration.
What I would have expected is for a phone call at the VERY least to ask me my opinion. I'd do anything for my DS and I'd have jumped on the next plane out and taken him myself to the hospital and stayed whatever time was necessary in the resort until he was able to fly home. In addition, if they had rung me I could have given my consent to painkillers being given etc. I just feel like it was bodged up and it was seen as an inconvenience. I dont want any teacher to loose their job, at the very least some words of advice given so if this ever happens to another child whilst away they seek the medical attention they need at the time. I am a very reasonable person and not out on a witch hunt... BUT i am very peed off by the situation.

It doesn't matter if the OP would have been pissed off at having to go abroad to collect her child. That shouldn't have entered the head of a teacher.

I agree. They should have followed procedure and if a parent has a problem with that then tough luck frankly.

I can't believe that any procedure anywhere advises a teacher to ignore a potential fracture for 24 hours in case they miss the flight. They've left themselves open to a complaint now and frankly it's only sheer luck that stopped the child from having a worse injury. The fracture could have dislocated compromising nerves or blood vessels and may have needed to be re located immediately. The decision to delay treatment could have had serious consequences other than a child suffering unnecessary pain for 24 hours.

They should have called you immediately. It is absolutely disgraceful and totally negligent to let the poor guy in pain. It's awful.

I’d absolutely raise this with the school. Part of their risk assessment for the trip should have included a plan of what to do if a child was unable to return home as planned. So I’d want to know why that eventuality wasn’t considered and if it was considered, why the documented procedures weren’t followed in the case of your son.

Hopefully the pain is easing now and he’ll soon make a full recovery. As for the school, totally negligent to ignore his injury to make sure he could get home. Where would they draw the line? Your DS must’ve been in quite a bit of pain- did he continue to complain? Did they check up on him further? Was he given any painkillers?
If it’s a no fly, it’s a no fly- the school must have a contingency plan? A wrist, an elbow, a leg? Surely their duty of care should mean that they seek medical attention especially as they suspected a fracture?

@debsadoos123
How is your ds today?

I dont want any teacher to loose their job, at the very least some words of advice given so if this ever happens to another child whilst away they seek the medical attention they need at the time. I am a very reasonable person and not out on a witch hunt... BUT i am very peed off by the situation.

Oh thank God - OP is reasonable and rational. Don’t take head of some of the things written on this thread OP. Your approach is exactly right. I hope your DS is ok.

Ds is in a fair bit of pain still unfortunately but thank you for asking. He had an xray last night and will have a bone scan in 10 days as the bone affected as a poor blood supply naturally and if any infection occurs the bone could die leading to more complications. A phone call to school in the morning asking for a meeting..as stated above I don't want any teacherto loose their job but I don't want a child in the future to go through the pain my DS has had to go through. He's not one to make a fuss so I csn tell if he complains then it's justified. X

I would be absolutely livid.

It appears as if they have put potential inconvenience above your son’s wellbeing, his need for medical attention and care, and neglected to meet their obligations under the duty of care they had while they were in loco parentis.

And that’s exactly what I’d be telling them, along with informing them about what you’ve been told about the bone scan, poor blood supply, risk of complications, and pointing out that they are not medical professionals, and stating that you feel you have no choice but to take this further as their processes and procedures clearly do not support adequate decision-making when a child’s medical wellbeing is in question.

I don't want a child in the future to go through the pain

I wouldn't worry about that - odds are that they won't bother doing a ski trip ever again now because they won't be able to get staff willing to give up their break for the benefit of the kids.

Had it gone the other way, we would have a thread with a parent annoyed at having to drop everything and fly to France (or wherever) to collect their child with a bruise on their wrist.

Well, no, because there would have been time for a doctor to look at it, decide that it was only a bruise, and confirm that OP's child could travel home on the booked flight.

I wouldn't worry about that - odds are that they won't bother doing a ski trip ever again now because they won't be able to get staff willing to give up their break for the benefit of the kids.

If they don't have staff prepared to take a child to hospital when they need it then nor should they

All this bleating about poor staff is ridiculous. If you don't have enough staff willing to take the appropriate level of care then you don't have a trip

Kids miss out and that's a shame, but that's a far better option than someone saying "Oh year your kid needed to go to hospital, but we decided not to bother because it would be a pain"

It's not a parent going nuts because of a bruise. It's a teacher who said "I thought he needed the hospital, but I didn't take him as it might have been inconvenient"

I doubt the SLT will let that particular teach lead a trip again anyway; not only did they take the risk, but openly said so and it'll be the SLT dealing with the complaint that's going to come in

The teachers would have put together a detailed and comprehensive risk assessment before the trip even got permission.They then disregarded it.

The school should have procedures to follow in this situation and it isn't up to the Op to say how they should be dealt with. On the face of it this is serious neglect aggravated by laziness.

Definitely a disciplinary matter. Most teachers take their responsibilities very seriously, as of a caring parent. Sounds like these ones were only interested in themselves.

Would (posted & ran OP) have been happier if he had been kept in ski-holiday country (diagnosed & treated there) & OP had to go over there to fetch him, he missed school etc? Would you like the trip to be short on staff for return journey, or for teacher to lose their job ... else what outcome does OP want

If it were me, I would certainly have wanted my child to see a doctor immediately, and I would have been perfectly happy to go over to fetch him. What I would certainly not want is for my child to be left in pain without the injury having been treated properly, risking severe injury and blood clots on the flight. If the trip is short of staff for the return journey as a result, I would assume that the school had factored that possibility properly into their risk assessments.

I really don't understand posters who support the school on this. If it were your child who had suffered thrombosis on the flight home due to the school taking a risk like this, would you really be happy about that?

I wouldn't worry about that - odds are that they won't bother doing a ski trip ever again now because they won't be able to get staff willing to give up their break for the benefit of the kids.

These teachers shouldn't be allowed to run a school trip in the future and I would hope that the HT would agree.

They absolutely should have taken him to x Ray they had no way of knowing what the internal damage was. He could have had loose fragments, flying itself could have been dangerous for him. I would absolutely make a formal written complaint to the head. First I would ask why you were not notified of the injury immediately by telephone ( I suspect because they knew you would demand they take him to a hospital.) and then ask how they medically judged him to be fine and not need to see a doctor. That’s outrageous.

All this bleating about poor staff is ridiculous. If you don't have enough staff willing to take the appropriate level of care then you don't have a trip

Completely agree. Several comments on here from purported teachers along the lines of "Oh well, no harm done," and "You wouldn't want to get someone the sack, would you?". Not exactly a glowing endorsement for the profession. In most industries, if you knowingly denied a child treatment, it would have repercussions.

If the injury had been incurred on the departure day, I think it might have been reasonable to avoid missing the flight home, whilst contacting the parents to suggest that they collect from the airport. If it happened on the last morning of a family holiday, I suspect most of us would have opted for getting home first, unless it clearly needed immediate attention.

However if it was incurred the previous morning, I don't think there was any reason not to take him to the hospital there. It's rather unlikely he wouldn't be able to travel, and even if so, there would have been time to get a parent out there before the teachers came home.