Son’s friends joining us on short trip - liability?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Different issue but when my DS has gone on a trip with friends, they asked us to just provide a signed letter that they have permission to get him medical care if needed or something like that.

Kudos to these parents for thinking first about the well-being of the children who are their guests.

[Anonymous]

My parents let me bring a friend on a road trip once when we were 14. 7 hours into the 8 hours drive my friend started puking- all over the cloth seats of the car. Then on the side of the highway. Then in the bath tub of the hotel room. Then like 100 more times over the next couple days. My mom was like loudly gagging cleaning it up and my dad was internally seething about the car seat and the ruined long weekend.

Now it's a big joke. That friend was my MOH in my wedding and my dad even incorporated it into his father of the bride speech

[Anonymous]

We have had parents sign a quick statement saying that we had permission to travel across state lines with their child(ren) (we were flying) and that we were authorized to allow medical care in an emergency. That seems reasonable to me.

[Anonymous]

Rich people problems

[Anonymous]

You can't sign away negligence. Take care of this child as if he your own or even better. Make good choices

[Anonymous]

I got an umbrella policy with Geico as soon as I started driving other kids in carpools. Super easy, not too expensive and gives me great peace of mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Different issue but when my DS has gone on a trip with friends, they asked us to just provide a signed letter that they have permission to get him medical care if needed or something like that.

you actually don’t need this. There is something called implied consent. The only time you would need to grant permission to someone else is if they need to make a decision regarding care. As in, the kid has a head injury, we can do X which may cause Y side effect or we can do Z which might not work but has no side effects……. As a parent I want to make that choice myself.

[Anonymous]

If you asked me to sign something (other than permission to fly or emergency medical) I would back out of the trip.

[Anonymous]

You need to know the parents well enough to know if they are the litigious type. It's not just "rich people" as one poster claimed. My son had a friend as basketball camp who's father had the type of job you just can't make a living at and he didn't come from wealth at all. Mom didn't work. The boy confided in my son his dad sued people, doctors and businesses to make money. He lawyer hopped until he found one willing to take the case. His father perhaps trying to teach the son the tricks of the trade said often places will settle just to get it over with. Very sad, but it happens.

Also, you need to know how impulsive the kid is. I won't take one of my son's friends on trips because he is a major risk taker and the parents are high maintenance. It's scary enough ending up at the ER with someone else's kid. I don't want to be worried the parents will sue me because i could not watch a 13 year old every single second.

[Anonymous]

Wow! My daughter went on an overseas trip with another family last year. They did not ask me to sign anything. I did have to sign a form to let her leave the country as proof that she was not being kidnapped. But that was it.

[Anonymous]

I am a physician; if you show up in the ER with someone else's kid we ideally need parental consent to treat immediate issues. Would I let a kid die... no BUT what if we are trying to reach parents and we can't. Just a huge hassle and takes valuable time away from treatment. I am talking head injury, severe bleeding.... stuff that needs fast attention. Much easier if you take the few seconds to have a signed parental consent for treatment form. I would be thrilled if a family my son was traveling with had me sign one - shows they are thinkers and are attentive. Why do you think you sign all of those emergency treatment waivers for the school and sports teams?

[Anonymous]

lf someone asked me to sign a form, I would excuse my child from the trip. It’s a weird request. You watch DS’ friends as you would watch out for DS. I’d ask that they bring their health insurance cards jic so that if something were to happen we could get them medical care but that’s it.

DH sounds like he cares more about cya than the health of the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a physician; if you show up in the ER with someone else's kid we ideally need parental consent to treat immediate issues. Would I let a kid die... no BUT what if we are trying to reach parents and we can't. Just a huge hassle and takes valuable time away from treatment. I am talking head injury, severe bleeding.... stuff that needs fast attention. Much easier if you take the few seconds to have a signed parental consent for treatment form. I would be thrilled if a family my son was traveling with had me sign one - shows they are thinkers and are attentive. Why do you think you sign all of those emergency treatment waivers for the school and sports teams?

PP. I agree. This makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't sign away negligence. Take care of this child as if he your own or even better. Make good choices

Exactly.

If someone asked me to sign something that did I wouldn’t and they’re not going on the trip or hanging out with those kids.

[Anonymous]

Don't you ever carpool to practice or parties or other activities? Have kids sleep over?

Of course there's always a chance something can go wrong when you're in charge of someone else's child, but this level of anxiety sounds over the top. Just be a parent to all and make smart choices. It would almost read as a red flag if someone asked me to sign a waiver.