Phone call from school; they’re ’not medically trained’ ?!

[mommalaulau]

Dd1 (13) went to school this morning as normal. All fine.

Phone call around 11 from the first aider to say she had “spots on her left cheek and they’re itchy”. I asked if it was hives, they said no. They wanted me to go up, get her, take her to the chemist to “get her checked and give her some antihistamine” and then bring her back to school.

I got there just expecting her to have literally a spot or two and her being over dramatic, she’s a teenager! But she has a cheek of hives and it’s also behind her ears, bottom of her neck and on her forehead. I immediately said to the first aider that it was hives, and she just gave me a smug look as if to say “you’re not trained what do you know”.
I took her straight to the chemist and he said it was definitely hives, for her to take some antihistamine immediately (which he actually went out and got and dosed and gave her) and to keep and eye on her for the rest of the day as she doesn’t know what caused it. He also said it is very concerning the school first aider couldn’t recognise hives and I should question that.

I called school when we returned home to let them know she wasn’t going back in for the afternoon as I was going to be keeping an eye on her, and whoever answered the phone said “yes of course that’s completely understandable”.
I then mentioned I was concerned that I was told it wasn’t hives. I said if a child with a known allergy presented with hives as their first reaction before anaphylaxis and a first aider didn’t recognise it that’s extremely worrying. I was told that they’re “not medically trained” but they’ll pass the message on. When they told me this I said surely, for allergy reasons, they must know how hives present? And I just kept getting that they’re “not medically trained”.

Does anybody think I need to take this any further or should I just leave it at this with whoever I spoke with? My DD is luckily ok and her itching has gone down but the hives are still slightly up, we have no idea what’s caused it.

AnotherNaCha
I am not being facetious.
I have a severe allergy, as does one of my children. I also work with children with a variety of medical needs, including allergies.
I am always willing to learn more, because I am aware that there is always room for improvement, in order to reduce risk as much as possible.
The information you have linked to is one of the information sheets that has been used to inform school policy and best practice.

Yes OP wasn’t clear about that

Likewise. And then why have an issue with me saying more education around allergies in school is needed?

I thought you were requesting info on allergy awareness at school?

OP I am glad your daughter is Ok and see that you went into panic mode.
However I think your response towards the actions from school is disproportionate and unreasonable. They did exactly the right thing.

Are you under the impression hives are covered in first aid training?

They aren't. Basic first aid training is literally about getting people in the recovery position and emergency life saving such as rescue breaths and chest compressions. It's not medical training you are always trained to call for help from medical professionals!

And hives aren't necessarily immediately obvious, you can get any number of vague viral rashes, nettle stings etc that can look similar.
They called you, they didn't take no action. Your child wasn't not breathing, it wasn't a medical emergency.

You said, Kids with allergies will have meds at school, ie antihistamine and EpiPens, which is standard practice in schools with regards to allergies that require epipen use, so I wondered
what further education you felt was needed.
I think schools have a very tricky job managing so many needs (including medical ones) and ensuring children are as safe as possible, alongside educating them, and I felt that the OP was a little unreasonable in her expectations.
That's all... I'm genuinely not trying to be arsey!

Also doesn't teach you to diagnose broken bones which is other thing parents always think school first aiders should be able to do.

Take it further and want what as the outcome? If it’s anything like our school the first aid room is staffed by a librarian and a receptionist. They’re not nurses.

@mommalaulau running down the road recently, my own hair swishing irritated my neck and I came up in hives. Apparently quite common! So she may not have gone near a specific allergen …

You would not be unreasonable to write a calm letter to the SLT stating your concerns. A school first aider absolutely should be able to spot a significant allergic reaction, of which hives can be a part. There is specific training out there for this situation.

https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/allergywise/

That must have been scary when she was a baby. Maybe this moment prompted those feelings in you again.

Honestly, the school did the right thing by calling you. They can’t be expected to diagnose.

You are the reason school staff are quitting in droves. The school called you, you took the kid to get treatment. Take responsibility for you child and stop sh*ING on the school.

Just looks like a spotty teenager to me tbh.

I was expecting to see something a bit more dramatic with your picture.

The photo in your OP doesn't really look like hives though.

I am medically trained with a degree and would not make a call of that photo that that is hives.

The big deal is, as the op said, hives present as the first stage of anaphylaxis and staff need to be aware of that for anyone who has such a bad reaction to something

or should they just call mum and let the child die!

What did you want the staff to do?
It didn't really look like hives, the child had no breathing difficulties, no epi pen etc. The child was never anywhere near death.

@ThriveAT I agree. School support staff are badly paid and take on responsibility for things like first aiding for no additional pay. Then they are in the front line dealing with angry parents.

Having had Anaphylactic shock and going from normal to not being able to use or indeed recognise my hand as hands inside 7 mins and having a separate extreme reaction, I can honestly say I would describe this as a mild irritation, I think the school acted very well and to be honest there’s nothing to complain about

also it you look into these reaction 50% have no physical cause like an allergy and can be cause by stress which being a teen is high on the list

First aiders have a very limited scope that is focused on getting people to appropriate care. Their job was not to diagnose, it was to say "does this child need emergency intervention, or treatment per an established care plan, or a parent phone call, or to be sent back to class?" Your DD does not have an allergy plan in place, does not have an identified allergy to something she is likely to be in accidental contact with at school, has never had an anaphylactic reaction to anything, and the school did not have permission on file to administer medications. When a child in this situation presents with an itchy rash and no other symptoms of a severe allergic reaction, calling the parents and asking them to pick up and take their child for medical attention is the correct response. Labeling the specific type of rash is not their job or helpful.

I hope your DD is feeling less itchy. If the issue reappears make sure to document patterns and discuss with the specialist evaluating her for POTS since MCAS can co-occur in POTS and EDS patients.

Majorly OTT

That doesn’t look obviously like hives to me, looks more like a heat rash or something has irritated her skin, like make up etc. the first aider called you to get it looked at, that’s literally all she could have done. We are only allowed to administer medication if a parent has signed it into school, we wouldn’t be able to just give a child an antihistamine without them being looked at. Youve overreacted totally

First aid trained school member of staff here and I wouldn’t know what hives are.

School staff are trained separately for anaphylaxis.

The school acted entirely appropriately in this instance. The child was presenting with a rash and no other symptoms, it didn't look like hives (the photo confirms this) so they phoned mom to check and suggested getting it looked at.

If a child presented with symptoms of anaphylaxis, the school would be dialling 999 then mom. In most instances, the school would already be aware of allergies and if severe the child would be carrying an epipen and staff would aware.

I quite agree @ThatSchoolOfficeLady

You've got parents who would go mad if you didn't phone them to inform them of a grazed knee, and others who would moan that you've called them out of work to check on an injury you're concerned about. You can't win 😆

There is a huge difference between being a First Aider and being a GP !

There is very little they are allowed to do, hence all this blue roll and water :)