Describe what actions to take when a child or young person becomes ill or injured.
All schools must have at least one qualified first aider, and that you should know their name and how to contact them. Schools also have systems in place.
Minor cuts and grazes are among the most common of all school injuries, and usually heal without causing any problems. A graze is an injury to the skin, where the skin is scraped off against a rough surface. Most grazes only take off the surface layer of the skin which leaves a raw tender area underneath.
Treating minor cuts and grazes:
For most cuts and grazes, cleaning them thoroughly, and covering them with a plaster, or dressing, is usually all that is needed. If the child is cut or graze is bleeding heavily, you should stop the bleeding before applying a dressing.
To dress a cut or graze at school:
• Wash and dry your hands thoroughly.
• Wear disposable non latex examination gloves
• If the wound is dirty, clean it under running tap water, or use alcohol-free cleansing wipes. Do not use cotton wool, antiseptics or antiseptic wipes.
• Pat the area dry with a gauze swab.
• Apply a sterile, adhesive dressing, such as a suitably sized plaster.
Recording procedures:
As a school it is essential that you keep a record of injuries and accidents to pupils. The school are obliged to provide a pupil accident book in which details of accidents to pupils leading to injury can be recorded. This pupil accident book should be kept in a place that allows school employees access.
If a pupil is injured whilst in school you are obliged by law to record the injury in the pupil accident book. An accident record must be completed immediately following an incident providing as much information as possible.
For many incidents it is only necessary to complete an accident record but in some circumstances the reporting of injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) requires you to report an incident to the...