First Aid at School

[AnthonyM83]

The other thread about calling EMS to schools prompted this post:

I'm a teacher aide for an elementary school where i often do playground supervision.
Since starting EMT school, I've been a bit confused as to how seriously I should treat playground injuries.

Just like when I was in school, kids fall all the time, their heads bounce on the cement like bouncing balls, necks fall in funny twisted positions, kids fall from the play structure hitting several metal bars on the way down.

They usually get right back up and keep running, get up crying, or stay still for awhile b/c they can't move and they can't tell where it specifically hurts, but then they get up and keep going.

First thing I think in these cases is, "Aahh, hold C-spine!!!" But it'd be ridiculous to hold c-spine on every case where there's obvious head/neck impact that LOOKS bad at first. I'd be doing it every few days and anyway they're not going to go the hospital even if I do hold it.

Also, if I'm helping them in the capacity as a teacher, not an EMT who was called to the scene, would I still be held liable for not following a county protocol and holding c-spine IF something bad were to happen? Anyone have suggestions?

 

[MMiz]

As a teacher you would not hold c-spine. As a teacher you would instruct the student not to move while you sent someone to call EMS.

My cousin fell off the swing back in elementary school. This is back in the late 80s. The lunch monitors panicked and told him not to move and called 911. The ambulance showed up and did their whole deal.

The lunch monitors had no real reason to call 911, but some student said something that panicked them, and they called for an ambulance.

You need to be careful as an EMT not to treat every situation as one needing an EMT and ambulance. At my middle school I see students hurt, but most of it is sprained ankles and minor injuries. Not every needs to be backboarded and c-spined.

Here I am rambling when I really mean to say, "It depends on the situation"

 

[AnthonyM83]

See, the problem is that we're not hardly ever going to call 911 everytime there's a possible serious injury. We'd have an ambulance at our school every few days!

Also, if I did help the student, even if just helping him to the nurse's office, wouldn't I technically be breaking county protocol? I was told we had to follow protocol even if off-duty and not diverge from our training. My worry is if the kid ends up having a neck injury and the parents go legal on the school, somewhere along the line people could question what I did and accuse me of negligence.

 

[Jon]

If you do not identify yourself as "I'm Joe, I'm an EMT... can I help you" - you are functioning as school employee, not as an EMT. If you identify yourself as an EMT, you then have a legal duty to act. Until you do that, you possibly have an ethical/moral duty to act, but not a legal duty.

As for kids and playgrounds. If the kid is not moving and appears to be hurt, send for help and keep him still. If the kid jumps back up and starts climbing up the slide again, they are probably fine.

Jon

 

[TTLWHKR]

Originally posted by MedicStudentJon@Nov 28 2005, 12:46 AM
If the kid jumps back up and starts climbing up the slide again, they are probably fine.

Jon

I've seen a man who walked in to an ER, drunk, just crashed a motorcycle into a tree. He had a fracture of the Cervical Spine similar to a hanging victim, and only wanted a bandage for the lac on his forehead. Didn't have any pain in his back/neck anything.. A nurse noticed bones poking at the skin while she was cleaning several small lacs on his face and head.

If a school has a bonified, well trained nurse.. I'm sure the kid will get good care, if the only trauma she ever handled was a paper cut. Take over.