Accident & First Aid

For the purpose of this publication the term ‘parents’ will be used to describe all types of primary caregivers, such as biological and adoptive parents, foster carers and guardians.

Although we take measures to ensure the safety of children in our care, sometimes accidents do happen. We follow the procedures set out in this policy so that everyone involved is supported and cared for when accidents or incidents happen and that the circumstances of the accident or incident can be reviewed, and actions taken to reduce future risks.

Accidents

When an accident or incident occurs, we ensure:

• Firstly, that the child is comforted and reassured
• We assess the severity of the injury and if necessary, call for medical assistance
• Where needed, first aid is administered by a trained paediatric first aider
• The person responsible for reporting accidents, incidents or near misses is the member of staff who saw the incident or was first to discover the injured child
• We record the accident or incident and the treatment given on an Accident/Incident Form, and it is reported to the manager. The form will be shown to parents at the end of the session for them to sign. Other staff who have witnessed the accident may also countersign the form and, in more serious cases, provide a statement. This should be done as soon as possible after the accident is dealt with, while the details are still clear.
• The manager reviews the accident/incident forms at least monthly for patterns, (e.g. one child being particularly accident prone or a particular area in the nursery or time of the day when most accidents happen). Any patterns are investigated, and steps taken to reduce any risks.
• The manager reports any serious accidents/incidents to the Nominated individual – Grace Saalmans for investigation for further action to be taken (i.e. a full risk assessment or report under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR))
• The Accident File is kept for at least 21 years and three months
• Where medical attention is required, a senior member of staff will notify the parent(s) as soon as possible whilst caring for the child appropriately
• Where medical treatment is required, the manager will follow the insurance company procedures, which may involve informing them in writing of the accident
• The manager will report any accidents of a serious nature to Ofsted, the nominated Individual, and the local authority children’s social care team (as per the local child protection arrangements), where necessary. Where relevant such accidents will also be reported to the local authority environmental health department, or the Health and Safety Executive and their advice followed. Notification must be made as soon as is reasonably practical, but in any event within 14 days of the incident occurring.
• **If the setting is an awarded Millie’s Mark setting or working towards the award then the manager will also notify Millie’s Mark to meet the requirements under this scheme.

Accident/Incident forms are located: office folder “all staff forms”

Accident/Incident files are located office folder “Incidents reported”

Staff accident forms are located: office yellow/blue Accident Book under First Aid Box

Contact Details:

Organisation	Contact details
Ofsted	03001231231
Local authority children’s social care team	020 7527 7400
Local authority environmental health department
Health and Safety Executive	0345 300 9923 (fatal incidents only)
RIDDOR report form	http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/report.htm
Millie’s Mark	https://www.milliesmark.com/

Procedures for head injuries

If a child has a head injury, we will:

• Comfort and reassure the child
• Assess the child to determine if medical attention is required. If it is then we follow our procedure set out below.
• Call parents to collect their child.
• If the skin is not broken, a cold compress will be applied if possible for short periods of time, repeated until the parent arrives to collect their child
• If the skin is broken, then we will stop the bleeding as per first aid procedures.
• Complete the accident form
• Keep the child in a calm and quiet area whilst awaiting collection, where applicable
• We will continue to monitor the child and follow the advice on the NHS website as per all head injuries https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/minor-head-injury/
• For major head injuries we will follow our paediatric first aid training.

Transporting children to hospital procedure

• Staff must Inform a member of the management team immediately of any emergencies

• The manager will call 999 for an ambulance if the illness is severe. We will NOT attempt to transport the unwell child a personal vehicle
• We will follow the instructions from the 999 call handler
• A member of staff must contact the parent(s) while we wait for the ambulance, and arrange to meet them at the hospital
• Staff will be redeployed if needed to care for the remaining children and maintain safe working ratios. This may mean temporarily grouping the children together
• We will ensure all relevant paperwork and any medication goes with the child as well as any comforter required, the most suitable adult will accompany the child in the ambulance
• We will remain calm for the benefit of all the children who witnessed the incident. We are aware that they may be traumatised by it and need lots of reassurance Staff are also offered additional support following an incident.

**If a child has an accident that may require hospital treatment but not an ambulance and you choose to transport children within staff vehicles Citation advise you consider the following in your policy:

• Requesting permission from parents
• Ratio requirements of the setting being maintained
• The age and height of the child, in regards to will they need a car seat? Further guidance can be found at childcarseats.org.uk/types-of-seat/
• There are some exceptions for needing a child seat depending again on their age. Further guidance can be found at childcarseats.org.uk/the-law/cars-taxis-private-hire-vehicles-vans-and-goods-vehicles/#under-three
• With the fitting of the car seat, we also need to ask if the individual had training in carrying in carrying this out
• Is this transport covered under business insurance, so a call to your insurance company will be needed, or do they have business insurance on their vehicle?
• Safeguarding of the child needs to be looked at. In certain situations e.g. A designated member of staff should be appointed to plan and provide oversight of all transporting arrangements and respond to any difficulties that may arise. Wherever possible and practicable it is advisable that transport is undertaken other than in private vehicles, with at least one adult additional to the driver acting as an escort. Staff should ensure that their behaviour is safe and that the transport arrangements and the vehicle meet all legal requirements. They should ensure that the vehicle is roadworthy and appropriately insured and that the maximum capacity is not exceeded
• Emergency procedures, e.g. what happens if the child’s health begins to deteriorate during the journey.

First aid

The first aid boxes are located in: every room. These are easily accessible with appropriate content for use with children.

The appointed person(s) responsible for first aid is Zita Varzeviciene They are responsible for checking the contents of the boxes every term and replacing items that have been used or are out of date.

The staff first aid box is kept in office.

First aid boxes should only contain items permitted by the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations Act 1981, such as sterile dressings, bandages and eye pads. No other medical items, such as paracetamol should be kept in them.

All key-persons and other professionally qualified staff are trained in paediatric first aid and this training is updated every three years. All first aid trained staff are listed in this policy and  in every room.

Outings

A first aid box is taken on all outings, along with any medication that needs to be administered in an emergency, including inhalers etc. Children are always accompanied by at least one member of staff who is fully trained in Paediatric first aid.

Food Safety and play  (See also Food Play Policy)

Children are supervised during mealtimes and food is adequately cut up to reduce the risk of choking. We may use food as a play material because we understand that learning experiences are provided through exploring different malleable materials. Therefore, we may use the following in our play:

• Playdough
• Cornflour
• Dried pasta, rice and pulses.
• cereals

These are risk assessed and presented differently to the way it would be presented for eating e.g. in trays,

Food items may also be incorporated into the role play area to enrich the learning experiences for children, e.g. fruits and vegetables. Children will be fully supervised during these activities as all food causes a choking hazard

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

We provide staff with PPE according to the need of the task or activity. Staff must wear PPE to protect themselves and the children during tasks that involve contact with bodily fluids. PPE is also provided for domestic tasks. Staff are consulted when choosing PPE to ensure all allergies and individual needs are supported and this is evaluated on an ongoing basis.

Dealing with blood

Any staff member dealing with blood must:

• Always take precautions when cleaning wounds as some conditions such as hepatitis or the HIV virus can be transmitted via blood.
• Wear disposable gloves and wipe up any blood spillage with disposable cloths, neat sterilising fluid or freshly diluted bleach (one part diluted with 10 parts water). Such solutions must be carefully disposed of immediately after use.

Needle punctures and sharps injury

Although these types of injury are rare in a childcare setting, we recognise that injuries from needles, broken glass and so on may result in blood-borne infections and that staff must take great care in the collection and disposal of this type of material. For the safety and well-being of the employees, any staff member dealing with needles, broken glass etc. must treat them as contaminated waste. If a needle is found, the local authority must be contacted to deal with its disposal.

We treat our responsibilities and obligations in respect of health and safety as a priority and provide ongoing training to staff which reflects best practice and is in line with current health and safety legislation. Please read in conjunction with our Health & Safety and Sickness & Illness (Including Infection control) Policies

This policy will be reviewed annually and/or after a serious accident or incident.

This policy was adopted on	Signed on behalf of the setting	Date for review
10/03/2023	Irma Cernychiene	September, 2023

 

 

More will be updated soon.