I need help. I’m utterly distraught and upset with my sons school, does anyone have any advice?

[mummytorands]

So I’ve been awake all night with keeping my 8 year old as comfortable as possible and yesterday’s events and I wanted to go to the school today and complain about how they handled things but I think I’m going to write to the chair of governors instead so I want to box clever.

So, I leave work yesterday (I work 10 minutes from the school by car) at 2:45 my children are usually let out at 3:10-3:20. School call at 2:50 telling me my son (8) has had a fall during playtime she explained he hurt his arm, elbow hip and knee. He was grazed seen by first aid but very upset and could I get him early of course I said yes I’ll be 5 minutes. Asked then as it’s unusual for him to be as upset as she was saying as he’s quite a tough cookie has he done any damage. No she said first aid moved his arm but seems ok but he’s very upset and think it’s best you came early and that she would get my daughter for me too (5). I pull up to school a TA is bringing them both out and it was quite evident to me we needed to get to hospital. I could clearly see my son was in pain, he was holding his arm, his wrist and hand were limp. I was given no accident form but didn’t think about that until later as my main concern was to get him medical attention. I called minor injuries they said they had a 3 hour wait and they wouldn’t be able to xray today so off to a&e I went which was heaving but we were dealt with pretty swiftly. Xray and he’s broken both radius and ulna and one of the fractures is going into the growth plate. I won’t know the full extent until we see the fracture clinic in 24 hours however we were sent home in a plaster cast and sling and I’ve kept him comfortable with calpol alternating nurofen. My plan is to go into school tomorrow asking for the accident book copy but I want to see it and not have it done and back dated. I will tell them he won’t be in for the next couple of days until I know more but I’m not disclosing the damage he’s done until I know for definite.

I am furious. He very clearly to me had broken his arm the moment I seen him. She played it down to me on the phone and his arm had been manipulated and it should not have been. They did not contact me fast enough and no accident from was given. Does anyone have advice? I want to complain because I’m just so unhappy about the handling and I don’t want it to happen again but I want the first aid training to be looked into also. My poor boy.

'They should have called an ambulance for the poor lad^'
^
What, and had him sitting in school for the next 6 hours waiting for it rather than calling his parent to collect him within minutes?

What a stupid suggestion

There is nothing wrong with me. What's with you needing to be so catty?

You would seriously call an ambulance for a suspected broken arm where the child could walk and get into a car? They’d probably still be waiting for the ambulance now

For a possible broken arm? They'd probably have been waiting 8 hours for such an injury. Calling his mum was a far better solution.

Voice of reason for all of those who have dismissd such a fracture as something minor.

My son broke his leg at school when he was 4. Obviously school didn't know it was broken but called and we took him to hospital where it was manipulated and not x-rayed. Ds was quiet but not crying, even when it was manipulated. A couple of days later he still wouldn't put weight on it so we took him back to hospital where they did an x-ray and it was broken. The doctor was apologetic but said ds needed to have on his notes that he masks pain and said they avoid x-rays unless necessary - he said it shouldn't have been possible to manipulate the leg without ds shrieking.

I include this to say if doctors can miss a broken limb I'm sure school first-aiders can, and to reassure you that there was no long-term damage done by the manipulation the doctor did. Ds is now 16.

Just focus on your son rather than 'boxing clever' and turning on the school.

They wouldn’t have manipulated it. What was meant was the First Aider asked your son if he could move his wrist, where it was hurting, etc. Manipulation is a medical procedure. They won’t have done that.

I don’t know why you’re fussing about the accident form so much, unless you think it’s going to show some kind of…well, what? The form/book entry will be brief, eg “Bob fell and injured his left arm, grazed his right knee. Was distressed and in pain so phoned parent for collection” It will have your son’s name, date and time of injury and will be signed by the first aider.

You’re upset because your son has been hurt. That’s understandable. But I can’t see how the school have done anything wrong. They phoned you and you collected him.

No one has dismissed a fracture as minor. Don't put words into other people's mouths.

This is Mumsnet. Most posters will have had an injured child at some point and know exactly how they would react.

When I broke my arm at school the dinner lady pulled me up off the ground with it, then when I said it hurt too me to the toilets and wiggled it under the tap and said "there, that's better".

These things happen. I think you're overreacting maybe wait a couple of days before doing anything you may calm down

That was in response to @ItShouldntHappenToMeYet

Depends on how long your son had the accident before they called you? If he's been left in pain for a couple of hours it's unacceptable but if they contacted you immediately then they did all they could.
I hope your son is ok, must have been an awful shock for you both.

Actually they can call an ambulance and if necessary send him to A&E with someone from school! School act in loco parentis. What would they have done if they couldn’t have got hold of mum for any reason and he was going to after school club? Just sent him? No they’re not doctors but common sense would say this was not just a simple fall in the playground!

They are not doctors and don't have access to X-ray. This wasn't a call an ambulance situation so the correct response would be to call parents which they did. Also the person who rang will likely have been office staff who wouldn't have seen what happened. None of what happened prevented you from assessing your son and managing his care from there.

Saying that you are entitled to know what happened and how it happened but you are better speaking to the head. The head can talk to staff and check reports and give you a full update. They also need to know how your son is so they can risk assess for best practice. If after speaking to school/head you feel unhappy still then yes a complaint would be the next step. You would need to check the school complaints policy to know what to do.

I agree, I would want to know how long he had been sitting there if it happened at playtime and this was nearly home time.

People aren’t dismissing it as minor they are saying what could the school have done differently? The child has a fractured arm regardless that part is the accident, parent is understandably upset but the school could have done things completely differently and still have op upset with them. Eg if the situation had been different the post could have been “Why did the school keep my child inside and make us wait 20 mins while they organised filling in an accident form when he was clearly upset and it was obvious I needed to get him to a&e asap, they should have brought him out to the car as soon as I arrived the accident form could have been dealt with later.”

Clearly you lack intelligent, they do both! Supposing they couldn’t get hold of his mum for any reason? Do they wait until they can. What if he was going to after school club do they send him to it? FYI schools are generally prioritised if ambulances are called!

@mummytorands

I’m always surprised by some of the responses on here when schools are failing children.

The children come first. Always.

That sounds like an awful break and that your DS has been in a lot of pain.

Ask to see their accident policy, and determine if they followed the procedure correctly. Also any playground risk assessments.

In an emergency, I don’t think there is always time to fill the form out but it should have been done by now. Yes, ask to see it.

The school also need to determine if they need to put any preventative measures in place to stop it happening again. Were staffing ratios adhered to, was correct first aid procedures followed, was the member of staff that attended to him first aid trained?

I’m sorry that your little boy was hurt.
Honestly I don’t think they have done anything significantly wrong here . There is nothing to say that you can’t move a broken arm. You use your other arm to support it.

They called the parent fairly soon afterwards ( could have been slightly sooner) . It isn’t like he was left uncared for . Whoever said call an ambulance is ridiculous . Would have been an utter waste of tax payers money.

You would expect a child with broken arm to wait in A and E for a few hours. An hour longer did not make a difference .

I broke my arm aged 8 playing at a friends home. The mum did not call my mum, but was kind to me. When my nurse mum arrived 2 hours later she took me home and then after a few hours of observation took me to A and E.

Your child waited a shorter time than this for medical attention. Please take a breath. This is not a reason to start ‘boxing clever’ and writing to the governors .

But they could get hold of his mum so there's no point wondering what would have happened if they couldn't.
By the way schools spent always prioritised, i had a child with a dislocated knee who was in agony and 8 hours later we were still waiting for an ambulance (school first aider)

What the school should have done differently is call and say "Hi mum, son has just had an accident on the playground, he is very upset and holding his arm, our first aider has gone to him, but we really think he requires medical attention as there is athe possibility of it being broken. Are you able to get to us asap? great, we will go get your younger child from her class so she can leave with you too, see you shortly"

What they did was wait an unspecified amount of time, how long since break? My kids have a lunch play time, but thats it for the day, they called a parent at home time? And they called because the child was upset, not because they thought the injury required an xray.

As i said, theres no point in going in all guns blazing, but the first aider didnt respond appropriately to the injury. And the parent should have been given as clear a picture of the mechanism of injury as possible to tell to A&E.

I think you are definitely overreacting here. Why are you looking for someone to direct your anger towards so badly? The anger is yours to deal with, not for you take out of school staff just because they happened to be there when it happened and did their best as non-medical staff to assess the situation. They haven’t been negligent or acted uncaring. Focus your energy on your son’s recovery rather than marching into school asking for accident forms or medical book. He has been to the hospital and he’s 8, all the information you need comes from those two sources. An accident forms isn’t vital at this stage.

When DD had an accident at school, they telephoned me to collect her, they said they can't be sure, but thought I should take her to A&E. They school secretary came with us to comfort DD in the car as I was driving.

They could her hold of his mum though….

I've done first aid courses for work and you are taught to check basic range of movement, so when you say 'manipulated' do you mean he was asked if he can move it, and if he can form a fist or turn his hand over, because I would have checked those things if someone told me they had hurt their arm.

You've asked where you should direct your anger, and sometimes there isn't somewhere. You've asked where have every right to feel anger, but this seems like it was a genuine accident and the school staff did everything they could to conform and care for your son, then notified you. So they don't deserve your anger.