What happens if a child is injured at school? I'm worried they'll give a tetanus shot before I...

[janellesmommy]

My daughter just started Kindergarten at a public school in California.

I was thinking of putting "No tetanus shot under any circumstances" on the emergency card, but I forgot to do that, and also I was feeling reluctant to draw attention to my daughter by writing that. Now if I ask to change the card I'll draw extra attention to her.

Is there a real danger of her being given a tetanus shot if she gets injured? DH and I will always have our cell phones with us during school hours, and we'll rush to school if she is injured, but what if the ambulance gets there first?

[runes]

Technically, they aren't supposed to treat any injuries without parental consent. If the injury is very serious, they would start treating, but at that point it's highly unlikely that a tetanus shot would be part of that treatment. I'm pretty sure ambulances don't carry tetanus shots with them, that would be something that would probably happen at the ER, though.

You could go ahead and modify the card if it would make you feel more at ease. It won't be calling more attention to your dd, there is nothing wrong with your dd's vax status, whatever it might be, and they can't bug you about it.

[_betsy_]

The school most likely isn't allowed to have shots like that on campus. I think there are probably syringes at the nurse's office, especially if there's a diabetic child, or something. But they don't just go shooting kids up with tetanus vax every time there's a scrape.

Really, they probably assume all children have all of the vaxes, so it wouldn't be a priority to them.

If your child is old enough, have her say something like "We don't believe in vaccinations" if the need ever arises. Though I'd think it would be a very bery rare thing to happen.

[JBaxter]

Schools dont keep shots of anything on hand. My 11th grader ( almost 17yrs old) has to have me bring him a tylonel in for a head ache. NO medications are permitted to be given by the school.

If your child is transported to the ER they will defer any thing other than life saving measures unless you are there or have been notified ( they talked to you by phone for OK)

Dont worry about schools giving anything

[Fyrestorm]

Originally Posted by JBaxter

If your child is transported to the ER they will defer any thing other than life saving measures unless you are there or have been notified ( they talked to you by phone for OK)

Unfortunately, a tetanus shot is considered emergency measures in most ERs in the US!

[lirpasirhc]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm

Unfortunately, a tetanus shot is considered emergency measures in most ERs in the US!

i have learned this from talking to some ER nurses. i'm considering getting a med ID bracelet including info that i'm allergic to the tetanus toxoid. i'm thinking about getting one for dd, too.

[mommaknowsbest]

Originally Posted by janellesmommy

My daughter just started Kindergarten at a public school in California.

I was thinking of putting "No tetanus shot under any circumstances" on the emergency card, but I forgot to do that, and also I was feeling reluctant to draw attention to my daughter by writing that. Now if I ask to change the card I'll draw extra attention to her.

Are there real dangers of her getting a tetanus shot if she gets injured? DH and I will always have our cell phones with us during school hours, and we'll rush to school if she is injured, but what if the ambulance gets there first?

I wouldn't bat an eye about walking in and signing a statement,saying whatever you want regarding the medical treatment of your Dc.

I think you have to be the judge of what is dangerous to your Dc regarding this vax.

[mommaknowsbest]

Originally Posted by lirpasirhc

i have learned this from talking to some ER nurses. i'm considering getting a med ID bracelet including info that i'm allergic to the tetanus toxoid. i'm thinking about getting one for dd, too.

Wow! Excellent suggestion! Thanks for this eye opening post.

[janellesmommy]

Originally Posted by mommaknowsbest

I think you have to be the judge of what is dangerous to your Dc regarding this vax.

I know there are real dangers to the tetanus vaccine. What I meant was I was wondering if there was a real danger of her being given it without my permission.

[Katerz2u]

At the bottom of the "consent to treat" form, for my sons school. It states I give consent for life saving treatments as determined by ER or Paramedic..blah blah. I signed and wrote "NO VACCINES" at the bottom. No one said anything.

[mommaknowsbest]

Originally Posted by janellesmommy

I know there are real dangers to the tetanus vaccine. What I meant was I was wondering if there was a real danger of her being given it without my permission.

Oh,okay.I'm sorry.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean i guess. But, like the pp,if you have stated on your Dc health form...NO VACCINES....and they (EMTs) do it anyway...then i guess the danger would be for the school and/or hospital,etc...because they would have given your dc a shot w/o your consent=lawsuit. I guess i'm wierd,but that was the first danger I then thought of. Dangerous for the others involved.

Oh! I read again..."danger on her" not sure what you mean.I'm sorry.

[Katerz2u]

Originally Posted by mommaknowsbest

Oh,okay.I'm sorry.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean i guess. But, like the pp,if you have stated on your Dc health form...NO VACCINES....and they (EMTs) do it anyway...then i guess the danger would be for the school and/or hospital,etc...because they would have given your dc a shot w/o your consent=lawsuit. I guess i'm wierd,but that was the first danger I then thought of. Dangerous for the others involved.

Oh! I read again..."danger on her" not sure what you mean.I'm sorry.

I think she means, how possible is it, that her daughter would receive a vaccination in an "emergency".
Honestly, I think it all depends on the opinion of the treating MD. Probably not likely, but Im not willing to take the chance.

[lirpasirhc]

i think it depends on what ER your child is taken to. at the ER in my old neighborhood, the tetanus vax was part of the protocol for treating wounds. if you were in a car wreck and unconscious and had a few gashes, you would get the tetanus vax as part of the standard treatment protocol. if your child had a serious cut at school, she would get the tetanus vax as part of "emergency" medicine. i would try to talk to some ER nurses in your area and find out what the local hospitals do. if you do a search for nursing chat boards, you could probably find out.

[alllyssa]

First of all - it's hard for me to even imagine an injury so life threatening happening at school that they'd have to call an ambulance - maybe falling off of the bars and being unconscious? They don't even send kids to the hospital for broken arms, they always call their parents.

And if you and your DH always have your cel phones w/you, my guess is you'll make it to the school before the ambulance does and if not, you'll certainly make it to the hospital before they have the chance to give your kid a tetanus shot.

Plus, most kids are up-to-date w/ their vaccines so they probably wouldn't even suspect that your kiddo "needed" one - the people that they always seem to inquire about are adults coming in for stitches, etc. to the ER because it's been over 10 years (presumably) since their last booster, not kids so much, cause most kids are vaccinated.

[lirpasirhc]

Originally Posted by alllyssa

First of all - it's hard for me to even imagine an injury so life threatening happening at school that they'd have to call an ambulance - maybe falling off of the bars and being unconscious? They don't even send kids to the hospital for broken arms, they always call their parents.

this depends on the district and school policies. the last elementary school i worked at called the ambulance for frivolous reasons IMO - broken arm, fall on concrete w/ minor head scrape and no neuro sx, minor fall off of monkey bars, etc. the parents didn't always beat the ambulance to the school. and when they did arrive at about the same time, i imagine it would have been really hard to forbid the ENTs to take the child to the ER.

ETA: yes, it was one of those schools w/ lots of "behavior problems" where no one was allowed to play chasing/running games (tag, dodge ball, red rover, soccer, basketball, kick ball, etc.). the list of forbidden games got longer every year.