What Are The Rules Regarding Accidents in a Day Nursery?

Author: Rachel Newcombe - Updated: 27 January 2013 | Comment

 

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Q.

Are there set policies or regulations for nursery schools regarding first aid? My 4 year old son recently had an accident at nursery where he cut his head open.

The nursery didn't phone an ambulance or me – they simply waited until I arrived to pick him up at the normal time! I took him straight to hospital where he had to have his head glued, so the cut was deemed severe enough to warrant treatment. I assumed with head injuries (or similar) that I and/or an ambulance would be contacted immediately?

A.

Sorry to hear that your son had an accident at nursery. All nursery schools should have an accident policy in place, which helps staff record accidents that occur and act appropriately to deal with the situation.

The accident policy may vary slightly from nursery to nursery, but in general you should expect the nursery to have at least two members of staff on the premises at all times who are trained in first aid and have an up-to-date First Aid Certificate. It’s usually only the members of staff who hold the certificate who will treat your child.

Details of all accidents should be clearly recorded by the nursery – they will either have accident forms filed away or a special accident record book. All details of the accident are recorded, including the name and address of the child, the name of the person who dealt with the accident, how the accident happened and when it occurred, what injuries the child suffered, details of the first aid administered to the child, and who the accident was reported to (in terms of the management team).

The form or book is subsequently signed by the staff member who did the first aid and dealt with the incident, plus the manager who is informed off the accident. The general procedure for minor accidents is to inform the parent when they arrive to pick up their child and get them to sign the form to record the fact that they’ve been informed. In the case of your son’s accident, it sounds like this may well have been the procedure that was followed.

With more serious accidents, the manager of the nursery would normally be expected to phone the child’s parents as soon as possible and arrange for the child to go to hospital.

As your son suffered a head injury and evidently did need to go to hospital for treatment, it sounds worrying that the nursery didn’t do this. I think you’d be within your rights to ask why this didn’t happen and find out how the accident was dealt with. You should, for example, be able to read a copy of the accident report and discover more about the accident, how it happened and how your child was treated (did he receive any first aid and, if so, what?).

It would also be a good idea, if only for your peace of mind, to clearly find out what the accident procedure is in the nursery your son attends.

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