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 Newham Contact Centre Mash	02084302000 02033739983 [email protected] 02033734600 [email protected]
Local authority environmental health department	www.newham.gov.uk/public-health-safety
Health and Safety Executive	02084302000 [email protected] 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 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 and office. These are easily accessible with appropriate content for use with children.

The appointed person(s) responsible for first aid is Zita Varzeviciene and Irma Cameron. Administrator Zita Varzeviciene is responsible for checking the contents of the boxes every month 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 off 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.

 

Childcare Sickness and Illness Policy:

The EYFS framework for group and school based providers (2024) states that:

 

3.51 Providers must promote the good health, including the oral health, of the children they look after.

3.52 They must have a procedure, which must be discussed with parents and/or carers, for taking appropriate action if children are ill or infectious. This procedure must also cover the necessary steps to prevent the spread of infection

 

To help us accomplish this we:

• Ask parents* to keep their child(ren) at home if they are unwell. It is the best place for them and stops cross infection.
• Ask staff and visitors not to attend the setting if they are unwell
• Reduce the chance of spreading infections through our rigorous cleaning and hand washing processes (see Infection Control section of this policy), ensuring children have regular access to the outdoor area and having effective ventilation inside.
• Share important information with parents about the benefits of the vaccination programme for young children to help protect them and the wider community from infectious diseases
• Help children to keep healthy by providing balanced and nutritious snacks, meals and drinks and share the importance of a making healthy choices with parents
• Have areas for sleeping and resting. We share information about how important it is for a young child to get enough sleep
• Talk about oral health and encourage parents to register with a dentist

 

Our procedures

We follow the following procedures when a child becomes ill during the session;

 

• We contact their parent(s) and ask them to pick up their child as soon as possible. Meanwhile we care for the child in a quiet area with their key person away from other children if possible. The key person should wear appropriate PPE to protect themselves.

• We follow Public Health England (Health Protection in Schools and other childcare facilities)  guidance and also take advice from our local health protection unit about if, and how long, children, young people and staff should be advised to stay away.
• We ask parents to inform us if their child has an infectious childhood disease such as chickenpox, measles, or hand, foot & mouth so that we can inform others especially those more vulnerable to infection.

• In the case of a child having vomited and/or diarrhoea, the child must not return to nursery until they have been clear of illness for at least 48 hours
• If a child develops a raised temperature (fever) whilst attending the nursery, parents/carers will be contacted and asked to collect them as soon as possible. The child must not return to nursery until they have been free from a raised temperature for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing medication (such as paracetamol or ibuprofen). If the child continues to have a raised temperature over several days, they must remain at home and can only return once they have been free from a raised temperature for a full 24-hour period.
• We inform all parents if there is a contagious infection identified in the nursery, to enable them to spot the early signs of this illness.
• We clean and sterilise all equipment and resources that may have come into contact with a contagious child to reduce the spread of infection
• We notify Ofsted as soon as possible but within 14 days of any food poisoning incidents at the setting affecting 2 or more children.
• We ask parents that their child remains at home for the first 48 hours of a course of antibiotics (unless this is part of an ongoing care plan to treat individual medical conditions e.g. asthma and the child is not unwell)
• We reserve. the right to refuse admission to a child who is unwell. This decision will be taken by the manager on duty and is non-negotiable. The decision is made in the best interests of the child and to protect others from infection
• Information is displayed about head lice and all parents are encouraged to check their children’s hair regularly. If a child has headlice parents are asked to inform the nursery so that other parents can be alerted.

 

Meningitis procedure

In the event of a case of meningitis, the manager will work with the Local Area Infection Control (IC) Nurse who will give guidance and support in each individual case.  We may be contacted directly by the IC Nurse about a case where parents haven’t yet reported to us and offer support. We will follow all guidance given and notify any relevant appropriate authorities including Ofsted

 

We will follow the transporting children to hospital procedure in any cases where children may need hospital treatment.

• 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.

 

We are advised not to transport children in personal vehicles but if a child has an accident that may require hospital treatment but not an ambulance and parents are delayed, the manager can make the decision to transport the child. In doing so we will consider the following:

• Requesting permission from parents
• Maintaining ratio requirements in the setting
• 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 www.childcarseats.org.uk/the-law/cars-taxis-private-hire-vehicles-vans-and-goods-vehicles/#under-three
• Is this transport covered under business insurance?
• We must ensure the child and staff are safeguarded, where possible, two members of staff should travel with the child as this also means the child can be closely monitored for changes in their condition. The journey should be planned, and risk assessed.
• Is the car road worthy and well maintained, MOT’d and insured?
• Emergency procedures, e.g. what happens if the child’s health begins to deteriorate during the journey.

 

Immunisations

 

Information on www.nhs.co.uk  sates that” Vaccinations are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases”. With this in mind, we expect that children attending the setting are vaccinated in line with the ‘Routine Childhood Immunisation Schedule’ set out in the Governments Health Policy.

 

Parents* are asked to inform us about any gaps in their child’s immunisation programme so that we can manage any risks to their child or other children/staff/parents in the most effective way. We ensure all parents aware that some children may not be vaccinated fully because of medical reasons or parental choice. In line with our inclusion and equality policy, we do not does not discriminate against children who have not received their immunisations and personal details of such children will not be disclosed to others. However, we will share the higher risks of infection if children have not had immunisations and ask the  parents of those children to sign a disclaimer.

 

A record of immunisations is kept in the child’s red book, and we ask that this information is also declared on the child’s registration document. This is updated as the child receives the next age-appropriate vaccination

 

Staff vaccinations policy

We expect our staff to maintain their immunity by ensuring they are up to date with their appropriate vaccinations and to inform the management when boosters are completed. This information can be retrieved from their GP practice.

 

Emergency information

We keep emergency information for every child and update it every six months with regular reminders to parents in newsletters, at parents’ evenings and a reminder notice on the Parent Information Board.

 

 

We will review this policy and its procedures annually and/or after a significant incident.

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

05.02.2026                                                     Irma Cameron                                       September, 2026

30/07/26                                                       Irma Cameron                                         September 2027

More will be updated soon.