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View Full Version : What would you do in this Emergency?



clorogue
14-04-2011, 08:01 PM
Say I had a number of children in my care and I had to call emergency services for a child and the child had to go into hospital

- I couldn't contact the parents
- none of my emergency helpers could get here in time to look after the other children in my care to allow me to go with the child
- the remaining children's parents couldn't get here in time either

I guess the only option in that scenario would be for the child to go to hospital in the ambulance by itself, I couldn't leave the other children. I have 4 emergency helpers, so I guess that situation would be highly unlikely, but I was thinking what would I do if that situation happened. I want to include this scenario in my policy for emergencies. I would follow as soon as possible afterwards and hopefully meet the parents at the hospital.

Would appreciate your thoughts on this situation and how would you write it in a policy.

RainbowMum
14-04-2011, 08:04 PM
I would not send an under 5 of to hospital on their own - if no other option I would take all children in my care to the hospital and deal with it from there x

Minstrel
14-04-2011, 08:08 PM
I would not send an under 5 of to hospital on their own - if no other option I would take all children in my care to the hospital and deal with it from there x

You wouldn't be allowed in the ambulance with all your other mindees. Best bet is to see the parents of injured child go straight to hospital.

sweets
14-04-2011, 08:12 PM
i asked my friends husband this as he is an ambulance technician.

it was awhile ago but im sure he said they are not allowed to take a child to hospital unaccompanied! an adult has to go with them, they would also not be able to take a group of your mindees as they all have to legally have a seat in the ambulance. If an adult cannot go with the child then they have to call the police and have one of them accompany the child.

i was talking this over with a CM friend of mine the other day, she used to live 2 streets away so would have been my first port of call but she has now moved 10 mins drive away so if i was put into this situaltion then i would firstly ring her to set off, then ask a trusted neighbour to sit with my remainig mindees till she arrived while i went with the sick child, as soon as the parents arrived at the hosp then i would head straight back home to mindees.

sarah707
14-04-2011, 08:12 PM
I have asked members of emergency services for their advice in this situation and they have told me that I would be totally in the way!

I could not go further than the waiting room anyway because I am not family and the docs wouldn't have me in there.

I would not be able to give permission for them to do things because I am not the parent (despite pieces of paper required by Eyfs and signed by parents)... and anyway they do what is necessary to save a child's life, anything else would wait for the parents.

I would also then be at hospital without means of getting home.

I would not be home for my own / other children meaning I would be panicking which would not be helpful.

They say the best thing I can do is to remain calm (!), put together a bag for the child with nappies, wipes, medication, drinks, parents and emergency contact numbers etc, provide them with written information about the child and allergies, intolerances, medication etc and stay at home focussing on contacting the parents and looking after the other children.

Let them get on with their job of caring for the child.

Therefore my emergency plan states the above on advice of medical professionals.

Hth :D

sweets
14-04-2011, 08:17 PM
I have asked members of emergency services for their advice in this situation and they have told me that I would be totally in the way!

I could not go further than the waiting room anyway because I am not family and the docs wouldn't have me in there.

I would not be able to give permission for them to do things because I am not the parent (despite pieces of paper required by Eyfs and signed by parents)... and anyway they do what is necessary to save a child's life, anything else would wait for the parents.

I would also then be at hospital without means of getting home.

I would not be home for my own / other children meaning I would be panicking which would not be helpful.

They say the best thing I can do is to remain calm (!), put together a bag for the child with nappies, wipes, medication, drinks, parents and emergency contact numbers etc, provide them with written information about the child and allergies, intolerances, medication etc and stay at home focussing on contacting the parents and looking after the other children.

Let them get on with their job of caring for the child.

Therefore my emergency plan states the above on advice of medical professionals.

Hth :D

you would be no more in the way than the childs parent! and they would never refuse for them to go :panic:

there is no way on this earth that i would let a frightened injured child travel in an ambulance on thier own. they would become my priority. it would be classed as an emergency so would be ok to leave the other mindees in the care of a trusted adult for a short time.

As for getting home from the hosp quickly then i would just get a taxi.

clorogue
14-04-2011, 08:28 PM
This could open a can of worms!!

If the scenario happened where i COULDN'T go now I feel happy that I am allowed to let the child go. So Sarah if you could go, would you go, or are you just saying that in the situation where you couldn't go then this is your policy. I too am aware of a frightened child in the ambulance, I am the carer of that child at the time appointed by the parents, and I would go if I could and I feel the parents would want me to.

Pipsqueak
14-04-2011, 09:42 PM
If it were possible for me to go then I would
however if i had to send a child in an ambulance by themself then i would follow in the car, requesting my hubs to meet me at the hospital so he can take charge of the mindees (at least they know him well) or my minder friend to take the children.

all parents would be contacted as a matter of emergency

sarah707
15-04-2011, 06:55 AM
This could open a can of worms!!

If the scenario happened where i COULDN'T go now I feel happy that I am allowed to let the child go. So Sarah if you could go, would you go, or are you just saying that in the situation where you couldn't go then this is your policy. I too am aware of a frightened child in the ambulance, I am the carer of that child at the time appointed by the parents, and I would go if I could and I feel the parents would want me to.

I think it would depend on the situation and yes it is a can of worms you are very right!!

It's worst case scenario isn't it? :(

When my dd was ill and taken to hospital in an ambulance I was here minding.

To be honest I wasn't in a fit state to drive after her PLUS I had 5 children to look after, it was nearly tea time so I couldn't just go.

I had to sort everyone out and by the time I had finished making calls and ensuring everyone was organised her dad had been able to drop everything and get there.

I went later when I was calmer and had a bag packed for her.

In my procedure I say I will react as best I can and follow advice from emergency services while ensuring ALL the children's needs are met.

There are things to organise when you are looking after other people's children... parents have to be available to collect (they might not want to drive to the hospital to get their child later, ours is half an hour away minimum), baby needs his bottle, toddler has to have regular food because he's diabetic, older child is being collected in half an hour and parents can't come any quicker...

You truly cannot say 'I will go in an ambulance with your child'... even discarding the advice I received from emergency services.

Hth :D

Chimps Childminding
15-04-2011, 07:37 AM
Unless June (co-minder) was available I would not have anyone to leave mindees with, so, I would contact childs parents once I had contacted emergency services and hope that they could get here asap, (most local anway) or failing that once emergency services had decided which hospital they were going to, (we have 2 hospitals they use, but both are about half an hour away) let parents know so they could head straight there. Obviously if I only had that mindee I would travel in the ambulance with them and worry about getting home later, but it isn't always possible!

Hopefully this a plan I will never need to put into action :panic:

FussyElmo
15-04-2011, 07:46 AM
Unless June (co-minder) was available I would not have anyone to leave mindees with, so, I would contact childs parents once I had contacted emergency services and hope that they could get here asap, (most local anway) or failing that once emergency services had decided which hospital they were going to, (we have 2 hospitals they use, but both are about half an hour away) let parents know so they could head straight there. Obviously if I only had that mindee I would travel in the ambulance with them and worry about getting home later, but it isn't always possible!

Hopefully this a plan I will never need to put into action :panic:

Exactly ideal world is that we would go to the hospital with them. However its sometimes not possible. I remember when I had the fire I thought its alright I would just go to my neighbours but not one of them was in. Dh was working half an hour away and my cm friends were all out and about. One got to me as quickly as she could and so did mindees mum luckily she works 5 mins away walking.

Yes mindees mum if an ambulance had been called would have got to me but if she worked further a field then the child would have been put in the ambulance alone because I would have had no option.

You never know what the sitution will be so I amended all my policies and stress that it might not be possible for me to go in the ambulance with them.

clorogue
15-04-2011, 07:50 AM
Sarah

In my procedure I say I will react as best I can and follow advice from emergency services while ensuring ALL the children's needs are met.


Thank you so much, that is perfect. I will renew my policy too with that wording. Thank you everyone for your input. I too would do the best that I could it was just working out what I should do with regard to the child going on their own in an ambulance.

babs
15-04-2011, 07:53 AM
i was told you can in case of emergency leave mindees with a trusting adult untill parents arrive to pick them up. but if i couldn't get hold of anyone i would follow to hospital and get mindees picked up from there asap or once parents got there come home with them.. i have couple of ppl i can leave mindees with and one parent could be here within minutes as she only works across road and shes my best friend and also down as emergency contact for me as well as hubby...

caz3007
15-04-2011, 07:59 AM
I am lucky as my hubby could be home within 5-10 mins max, so he would stay with mindies and contact their parents and I could go with sick one and then hubby would come to the hopsital to get me. But often things like that dont go to plan, so that sentence about reacting the best you can, is brilliant

rickysmiths
15-04-2011, 08:14 AM
you would be no more in the way than the childs parent! and they would never refuse for them to go :panic:

there is no way on this earth that i would let a frightened injured child travel in an ambulance on thier own. they would become my priority. it would be classed as an emergency so would be ok to leave the other mindees in the care of a trusted adult for a short time.

As for getting home from the hosp quickly then i would just get a taxi.

Thats the point though; they ARE the parents you are NOT. What if you have a lot of mindees with you and they have needs as well? It may be a very difficult balancing act but a hospital can be miles away depending on where you live. What if the ambulance they used was a helicopter? You couldn't go then and for me that would mean a 15 mile drive into Central London to get to the hospital and that on a good day could take me 2-3 hours. As for a taxi home maybe but that would cost me £30-40. :eek: For others who live in more remote areas it wouldn't be possible for them to get to the hospital.

To be honest the parents would probably get to the hospital quicker and my skills are better used calming and caring for the children left behind.

One thing no one has pointed out in all of this, is that if there has been a serious accident or medical emergency, the other children in your care have seen their friend being taken away and will be shocked and upset. Maybe as their main carer you are actually the better one to be with them till Mum or Dad collect?

When you are more calm you could go to the hospital. I think I would rather stay at home, stay out of the way and keep in touch with the parents.

The last thing hospitals want is lots of 'hangers on' around the place.

mushpea
15-04-2011, 08:14 AM
when one of my mindees became ill and I called the ambulance for him I was lucky that my parents were visiting and was able to care for the other mindee so i could go with the sick child,, if they werent there and there was no one else then the ambulance guy said i would have had two choices,, let the child go in the ambulance alone and meet them at the hospital or call the police to care for the other children at my home so i could go with the ill child,, either way you are traumatising one set of children,, its not an easy descion to make but it would have to be done,, if your out at a park somwhere and one has to be rushed to hospital you cant just leave the others,, in that situaition i would have to let the child go to hospital on its own and meet them there

rickysmiths
15-04-2011, 08:19 AM
i was told you can in case of emergency leave mindees with a trusting adult untill parents arrive to pick them up. but if i couldn't get hold of anyone i would follow to hospital and get mindees picked up from there asap or once parents got there come home with them.. i have couple of ppl i can leave mindees with and one parent could be here within minutes as she only works across road and shes my best friend and also down as emergency contact for me as well as hubby...

Would the hospital/other parents really want you there with a lot of unrelated children with you and with the greatest of respect, what support can you give the sick child if you have several other mindees with you demanding attention?

There are also times in my week when I have before and after school children when I would not fit them all in the car anyway so it would not be an option.

kindredspirits
15-04-2011, 08:21 AM
well I believe the official line is that paramedics are CRB checked and therefore you are ok to leave a mindee solely in their care. obviously you would want to do everything possible to be able to go with mindee to hospital if parents couldn't get away fast enough BUT you have to put the safety of the other mindees as important too. I have no neighbours I can trust well enough to leave kids with. Im my situation I would leave my DH with the kids as he is my assistant so not really an issue, however I don't think there would be anything wrong in sending a child in an ambulance by themselves and contacting the parents as a matter of priority if that was the only possible scenario - i wouldn't take lots of children in an ambulance, or too the hospital, i would have to be too focused on the well children to make any difference to the unwell child.

angeldelight
15-04-2011, 08:55 AM
Crikey I just hope I am never in that situation :eek:

Whatever is right or wrong I would not fancy letting a child go on their own - it happened to my own son once - because there was no one with him it made him panic more

There again I would not fancy taking all the kids either and would prob be of no use once at the hospital - they would not let you see the child would they with all the little ones in tow

I think most parents would rush for something like that and hopefully arrive at the hospital pretty soon after so it would just be the journey that most children would be alone and I am sure that most of the medical team would know and understand that a child is scared etc and comfort and support the child

Fingers crossed it never happens

Angel xx

clorogue
15-04-2011, 10:43 AM
I think this has brought to light how many 'emergency' situations there could be with a child and other other mindees in our care. It is just acting in the best way we can for every one concerned at the time as each situation is totally unique.

Very useful input from everyone, made me think too.

Thanks

Bananabrain
15-04-2011, 04:30 PM
you would be no more in the way than the childs parent! and they would never refuse for them to go :panic:

there is no way on this earth that i would let a frightened injured child travel in an ambulance on thier own. they would become my priority. it would be classed as an emergency so would be ok to leave the other mindees in the care of a trusted adult for a short time.

As for getting home from the hosp quickly then i would just get a taxi.

I spoke to Ofsted about this recently. Enquiring as to what the situation would be if there were to be a real emergency. They said that there are positively no situations where you can leave mindees with 'trusted adults' and effectively there aren't any 'emergencies' that we shouldn't be prepared for!!!!
Obviously, we all have childminder friends but logistically you just never know what the emergency would be and who would be available/close by.
The upshot was that I am no further forward and just as I had suspected, we are supposed to be super-human!:laughing: