If you value your childs safety do not fly with Easyjet

[C09]

I would like to my family's recent Easyjet experience with our 4 year old daughter

Flight delayed by 3 hours with no information (No surprise there)

Boarded the plane.

After further delays my four year old daughter decided she needed to use the toilet. (no surprise there either)

The plane door was a swing door, not the type you push in the middle.

My daughter trapped her ring finger in the toilet door as I attempted to close it. This resulted in a crushed finger and a severe cut with copious bleeding.

The attendants response was to place ice on the cut and dip it into a glass of iced water.

I asked if I needed to get off the flight and received no guidance. The reply was, "Its up to you!"

My wife dressed the wound and we decided to continue to London.
The female attendant asked if we wanted an ambulance on arrival. We said yes.

The captain radioed onward.

She returned with a paper message reply from London asking for my daughters name, age, allergies, medication etc.

I supplied this information which I assumed was forwarded.

My daughter had calmed and the bleeding stopped. The attendant asked if we still needed an ambulance and mentioned something about possible diversion of the flight if this was still the case.

As things had calmed I said that a doctor or paramedic would suffice at the gate upon arrival as my child (A 4 year old girl) still had a bad wound.

We landed, we had to wait for all the passengers to disembark. No attempt was made to accommodate us getting off the plane first.

Before disembarking, a male pilot, possibly the captain came to speak to us, when I mentioned the medical staff that was awaiting us he remained mute (I now know why)

We disembarked, put on the bus for an epic journey to the gate where no-one was waiting.

We continued through the terminal and were fast tracked through by passport control.
My wife continued into the terminal where a first aider assisted.
We visited the Easyjet help desk where after a call to operations it was revealed that a call had gone out from the jet to London that no assistance was required. How on earth was this decision made!(This conversation was recorded)

We were then told by the desk that they were getting a paramedic to see us, it was then revealed there are no paramedics onsite and they were sending another first aider.

To summarise, my child was injured on an easyjet flight, the first aid on the flight consisted of ice cubes, we were promised medical assistance on arrival and then a decision was made on that flight to cancel this assistance without our knowledge or agreement. We found ourselves wandering through Gatwick with an injured 4 year old girl.

Laquitar, I thought the same. We have been on Easyjet a few times and was worried when I read the title.

It must have been horrid for you child but I do think that requesting an ambulance for a squahed finger is going a little over the top. If you thought it was that bad why didn't you get off the plane and go straight to hospital there and then, and why did you immediately go to complain at the Easyjet desk when you arrived rather than seeing to your child's finger as soon as you landed.

I think you are feeling guilty that you hurt your child and trying to blame everyone else for it all.

So sorry that your child got hurt but I think you are overreacting to the way things were dealt with.

Wow. I am astounded by the spite and self righteous replies.

I took my daughter to A&E on arrival. The bleeding did stem and my child did calm down so I made the decision whilst having her seen to on arrival I realized she wouldn?t die but I wanted someone to check the finger wasn?t broken. I didn?t want to get off the plane and search for assistance on a foreign airport.

I did trap her finger and all my decisions were made in a state of shock as I had injured my child.

To reply to expatinscotland?s comment -?Instead, you didn't want to lose the money you'd spent on tickets and continued on the journey, expecting expensive medical services to be waiting for you on arrival?
My decision was not financial. I was promised assistance at the other end and my issue is this was withdrawn. I know I trapped my daughter and claim full responsibility.

Mrspickles, thank-you for your reply. You showed empathy, understanding and not an instant urge to pronounce her judgment on my actions. You are an good person and I?m sure a good parent which I?m obviously not after reading the replies.
As for soupdragons snide comment on punctuation. My apologies and can imagine you are one of these weary parents who constantly boasts about how bright her kids and is unaware of how much the other mothers hate her and once your pressurized, unhappy kids start university they?ll abandon you in a shot.

As for Haliborange?s quote ?I would never fly crappyjet?
Is this an attack on people that can?t afford the BA prices or the fact she?d rather go to Cornwall than have to travel with this so called ?poor people? and one of them might tread on her Hunter boots scuffing them. I think you were at my hotel, were you the one looking at peoples watches to see if they were dear enough to deem them worthwhile to strike up conversation with?

This is the bit that bothers me:

I asked if I needed to get off the flight and received no guidance. The reply was, "Its up to you!"

What did you expect them to say? If they'd said no, you'd be in a piss as they hadn't taken the situation seriously enough in your eyes. If they said yes, you'd be in a piss with them for making you miss your flight.

Of course it was up to you! I imagine if you'd severed your hand or were having a cardiac arrest they'd be insisting you got off, but a minor injury (to a child or an adult) really wouldn't warrant that.

'Is this an attack on people that can?t afford the BA prices or the fact she?d rather go to Cornwall than have to travel with this so called ?poor people? and one of them might tread on her Hunter boots scuffing them. I think you were at my hotel, were you the one looking at peoples watches to see if they were dear enough to deem them worthwhile to strike up conversation with?'

You chose to carry on to the destination and then stop to complain at the desk.

"I wanted someone to check the finger wasn?t broken"

Well, either it would have been obviously broken or they'd need an x-ray to check.

AFAIK, neither doctors nor paramedics usually carry x-ray machines about with them.

This was not urgent, and I hope she did not need further surgery or a cast.

So, what was the actual injury to your DDs finger and what treatment did A&E do? you've not mentioned that yet.

WTF? You're the one complaining about them. I don't fly Easyjet because they have a reputation for delays, cancellations and I think the scramble for seats when you have children sounds hellish.

You're also the one whose child was hurt enough for you to think she needed to go to hospital but instead you chose to take her on an overseas flight.

One of us has problems prioritising, but I don't think it is me.

But Airports always have first aid people all over the place, and can call ambulances easily enough.

If it was not a life-threatening injury I would not have thought it was possible to have a paramedic waiting for you.

Even a severe injury to a finger that does need surgery would be something that you would take to a walk-in clinic.

FWIW I think you did the right thing coming home and getting it checked in A & E.

At the risk of being patronising, I think that when you have calmed down a bit and got over the shock and fright you will realise that probably, everything that could have been done, and should have been done, by both you AND Easyjet, was done.

The title is inflammatory and misleading. I can't see anywhere where Easy Jet compromised a child's safety. If child was deemed by parents as not needing immediate medical help then IMO there was no need for the airline to sort out anything at the other end as no emergency existed.

Yes, communication could have been better but that's not the same as compromising safety.

Sorry your DD was hurt, OP. Hope she's feeling better.

I often fly with Easyjet and was worried when I opened this thread.

C09
I think you are being rather unreasonable tbh. I am sorry that your daughter was injured, but it seems that you are searching for someone to "blame" in order to distract yourself from the guilt you feel at causing the accident. It was an accident, it happens at some point to every parent.

A crushed finger, while painful, is not an injury that necessitates an ambulance transfer to hospital and I am rather surprised that you thought that it would be the next course of action.

I believe that paramedics in London would be the responsibility of the airport, surely the individual airlines do not have their own first aiders?

May I ask how long the flight was, and if your daughter was in pain throughout?

OP could make good tv on that easy-jet series.

'no, iam ok we 'll carry on with the flight it is only a finger' and on arrival 'where is our bloody ambulance and team of 10 doctors? I want my money back or i'll go on the internet'.

To recap.

I may or may not have made mistakes.

My issue is I was promised help and got off the plane expecting help as promised.

The jet called ahead and withdrew this without our knowledge leaving us without the promised support.

That is my issue.

Now the question. Were Easyjet right to do this?

WOndering if a finger is broken does not and has never needed any kind of ambulance or paramedic treatment ime - by experience i mean i have broken all my fingers at one time or other - once with heavy bleeding in a car door.

Easyjet staff sound like they did all that i would do for a bleed which is put it under the tap - or in this case a cup of cold water - to reduce swelling.

They left the decision to leave the flight up to you and rightly so. If you had left the flight you would have caused more delays while they found your bags. If a member of teh cabin crew had suggested it, there is a possibility that they would have been financially penalised although i don't know for sure.

As for there being no one waiting - you yourself said you no longer required an ambulance so an airport first aider would have been sufficient.

Oh and airports tend to have their own emergancy services. Or is that just my local airport?

Were they right to cancel? IMO, yes. From the facts the majority view here is that there was no urgent need for medical help and a paramedic/dr on standby would have been a massive waste of resources.

Should they have informed you of this? Yes!

Yes, they were right to cancel an ambulance for a non-urgent injury. They should have informed you of this, but I suspect that they decided to leave that to the ground staff

perhaps because you were being rather strident?

"To recap.

I may or may not have made mistakes."

are you implying that closing a door on your daughter's finger may not have been a mistake?

I think that an ambulance was arranged while she was bleeding (more copiously than expected for a finger). And cancelled once things had calmed down and the bleeding stopped.

I think the staff must have thought you were joking when you "said that a doctor or paramedic would suffice at the gate upon arrival"

Whay HowToShout said.

They should have informed you and should have told you where to find a first aider, but they were right to cancel the paramedic/GP.

You made a decision to stay on the plane. From the information you have given I would have done the same. The bleeding stopped and your daughter calmed down. You were able to see a first aider at the airport.
Even if your daughter had broken her finger she didn't need an ambulance to meet her.

DanceInTheDark - not all airports have their own emergency services! I badly sprained my ankle at the Toronto airport (couldn't walk, needed a wheelchair) and all they could offer to do was call me an ambulance. They couldn't even offer me ice or a cold pack!

I said I didn't require an ambulance but a doctor or a paramedic would suffice.

This post is not financially motivated. I have not requested a refund etc. I have requested an investigation to why support promised was removed mid flight.

I trapped my childs finger. I know that. I felt and still feel bad as that is the last thing anyone would want to do to their own flesh and blood.

I dont care about money or delaying people. I just wanted to know why that support was removed. You have judged me guilty. Now i want to know your opinion on the removal of the promised support.

The key word is 'promised'

I'm afraid I agree with the others.
The title of this post is inflamatory.

I've flown with Easy Jet a couple of times a year since the children were babies. I've never had any problems at all.

I've had pleasant staff who have made a fuss over the children and done their best for us when we have been split up in different seats.

We've had no major cancellations.

I will continue to fly with EasyJet without fearing for my childrens safty. In fact I'm flying with them at half term.

So, yet again, what exactly did the injury turn out to be? What treatment was given in the end?

Why did you want to see a paramedic? I am not being obtuse, but I am unclear why you would do this.

I would assume that if my daughter was able to move the finger, and that there was no bleeding, that the finger was not broken and there was nothing to do except give painkillers if necessary.

Are you sure they actually promised "a doctor or a paramedic"?

Please don't beat yourself up about her injury, these things happen. She will almost certainly do worse damage to herself before she reaches adulthood.

And since you've not said otherwise, I'm assuming there was no need for surgery or a cast or even stitches. That is great.