Anonymous wrote:OP here - I spoke with the teacher and I guess he told her on the way in from recess, and she says it is a really chaotic time so she asked him to talk to her after they got back to class. Neither one followed up, and I guess the afternoon was spent at their desks. To get to SACC he hopped on one foot the whole way, so you would think someone would have noticed (besides SACC who called me immediately). The teacher apologized and I told my son to speak up next time.

He is not one to avoid school work or go to the nurse (this is only the 2nd time this year - 1st was for lice). So that didn't play into it. It sounds more like an oversight rather than an actual decision not to let him go.

For those that advocated escalating, I am trying to understand the purpose. I guess so that the administration could provide clearer guidance to teachers or make sure there wasn't a problem with the specific teacher?

Anonymous wrote:I've never met a school nurse who could handle an actual emergency

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I spoke with the teacher and I guess he told her on the way in from recess, and she says it is a really chaotic time so she asked him to talk to her after they got back to class. Neither one followed up, and I guess the afternoon was spent at their desks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you wait for a school nurse to get to a kid having a seizure? Call 911!!!

First of all, most kids with seizures have a seizure plan at school that specifies when various interventions, including calling 911, will be used. 911 isn't always the right response. Often times the plan says "seizures end within 2 minutes, so keep child safe by doing X, document by doing Y, and call mom to pick up." or "Time seizure, and call 911 after 3 minutes . . . " or "Use Diastat which can be found in the nurse's office".

But even when you call 911, you still need the nurse. The nurse is the one who provides 911 with the paperwork with parent contact, permission to treat, information about medication allergies etc . . . The nurse is also the person most highly trained in CPR and emergency care, and should be present until 911 arrives in case something happens.

There are cases where a teacher would call 911 and the nurse simultaneously (epi pen use, severe asthma attack, certain kids with seizures although not the majority, certain kinds of injuries), in those cases, usually the teacher calls 911 and sends a "runner" kid to the next nearest adult with a phone so they can get the nurse and notify the front office. There are also cases (e.g. what appears to be a broken bone, moderate asthma attack, child is bleeding heavily but is conscious and not shocky) where you call the nurse and let them come and make that decision.

I can't think of a situation where one would call 911, for a health related situation, and not also notify the nurse.

Of course, the majority of situations, the kid goes to the nurse, but the idea that you call 911 whenever a kid can't be transported to the nurse (e.g. leg injury that could be a break or a sprain, diabetic kid who is too out of it to follow directions to move to the nurse, kid with an asthma attack) because the nurse would never leave their office is absurd. Nurses can and do leave their office. They also can and do leave their office for things like IEP/504 plans for kids with medical issues, lunch breaks, meeting with teachers to review action plans, setting up g-tube feeds for kids in the cafeteria, etc . . . In all those situations there is a plan such as a cell phone/walkie talkie/ or loud speaker announcement to reach the nurse quickly in an emergency.

-- 25 year veteran teacher, also mother of a medically fragile child, who is really confused how PP could act as a "substitute nurse", and suspects that PP is confusing nurses and health techs.

In our school, we call 911 for peanut injestions by those with allergies. We (teachers) are the ones to talk to the EMTs.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I spoke with the teacher and I guess he told her on the way in from recess, and she says it is a really chaotic time so she asked him to talk to her after they got back to class. Neither one followed up, and I guess the afternoon was spent at their desks. To get to SACC he hopped on one foot the whole way, so you would think someone would have noticed (besides SACC who called me immediately). The teacher apologized and I told my son to speak up next time.

He is not one to avoid school work or go to the nurse (this is only the 2nd time this year - 1st was for lice). So that didn't play into it. It sounds more like an oversight rather than an actual decision not to let him go.

For those that advocated escalating, I am trying to understand the purpose. I guess so that the administration could provide clearer guidance to teachers or make sure there wasn't a problem with the specific teacher?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you wait for a school nurse to get to a kid having a seizure? Call 911!!!

First of all, most kids with seizures have a seizure plan at school that specifies when various interventions, including calling 911, will be used. 911 isn't always the right response. Often times the plan says "seizures end within 2 minutes, so keep child safe by doing X, document by doing Y, and call mom to pick up." or "Time seizure, and call 911 after 3 minutes . . . " or "Use Diastat which can be found in the nurse's office".

But even when you call 911, you still need the nurse. The nurse is the one who provides 911 with the paperwork with parent contact, permission to treat, information about medication allergies etc . . . The nurse is also the person most highly trained in CPR and emergency care, and should be present until 911 arrives in case something happens.

There are cases where a teacher would call 911 and the nurse simultaneously (epi pen use, severe asthma attack, certain kids with seizures although not the majority, certain kinds of injuries), in those cases, usually the teacher calls 911 and sends a "runner" kid to the next nearest adult with a phone so they can get the nurse and notify the front office. There are also cases (e.g. what appears to be a broken bone, moderate asthma attack, child is bleeding heavily but is conscious and not shocky) where you call the nurse and let them come and make that decision.

I can't think of a situation where one would call 911, for a health related situation, and not also notify the nurse.

Of course, the majority of situations, the kid goes to the nurse, but the idea that you call 911 whenever a kid can't be transported to the nurse (e.g. leg injury that could be a break or a sprain, diabetic kid who is too out of it to follow directions to move to the nurse, kid with an asthma attack) because the nurse would never leave their office is absurd. Nurses can and do leave their office. They also can and do leave their office for things like IEP/504 plans for kids with medical issues, lunch breaks, meeting with teachers to review action plans, setting up g-tube feeds for kids in the cafeteria, etc . . . In all those situations there is a plan such as a cell phone/walkie talkie/ or loud speaker announcement to reach the nurse quickly in an emergency.

-- 25 year veteran teacher, also mother of a medically fragile child, who is really confused how PP could act as a "substitute nurse", and suspects that PP is confusing nurses and health techs.