Recently Kpo Kia got into an accident in school.
I was packing my room while I received a WhatApp message from Kpo Kia Papa: “School updated that LO had a fall just now”. Since this is the Nth time she fell down since she started school, and her teachers have been promptly informing us of any injury, I did not take this on the heart.
When Kpo Kia reached home after school, she hugged me and told me in a soft voice that she was pushed (and fell down) when she attempted to push her friends away from her. She then told me she hurt her head, while the dad briefly shared what the teacher told him about the incident. The next moment, I saw a horrifying sight.
Instead of the expected minor scratch, I saw a deep and long cut on her head. I was shocked and admired Kpo Kia for her calmness. We quickly call the clinic nearby for an appointment, but they recommended us to go to any nearby hospital for treatment instead.
We immediately rushed her down to KK hospital. Due to COVID, only one parent can accompany the child, so Kpo Kia papa accompanied Kpo Kia for her treatment while I paced up and down waiting for them.
By the time she came out, I finally know how does the ‘legendary’ medical skin glue that is used to treat open wound looks like.
The doctor prescribed some antibiotics for Kpo Kia and gave her 2 days MC. She also asked us to monitor Kpo Kia and ensure she did not develop any of the following symptoms:
- Any unusual behavior
- Confusion about familiar names and places
- Inability to wake up from sleep
- Increase or persistent headache
- Seizures(fits)
- Unsteadiness on feet
- Usual drowsiness and sleepiness
- Persistent vomiting of more than four times within a day
- Double or blurred vision
- Bleeding or discharge from ear or nose.
Kpo Kia also not supposed to wash her head for the first 24hrs until the glue is dry. The doctor also reminded us to let Kpo Kia to try sleep on her sides so she will not hurt her wound.
On the second day, we started to help her wash her wound area to keep it clean and prevent any infection.
Unfortunately, my course had started so I won’t be able to keep her at home to monitor for a longer period. On the 3rd day after the incident, she had to go back to school. Paranoid us noted down on the communication book regarding her medication detail even though Kpo Kia papa briefed the teachers before he left the school. I also followed up with another WhatApp message to remind the teachers just in case they forgot to feed her the medication.
Standard Procedure
On the 9th day after the incident, I finally remember to disturb the principal during office hours (I keep pushing it off as I try not to disturb the teachers and principal during non-official working hours). While we do not want to cause any trouble for the school, Kpo Kia papa and I still strongly desire to have the answers regarding the incident:
- What exactly caused her injury? Is there any improvement required to ensure the safety of the preschoolers in schools?
- What should be the standard procedure for child injury, to what extent of injury should the school inform parents to immediately fetch the child from the school?
Apparently, the incident wasn’t communicated to the school authority and the principal decided to teach us our ‘parents rights’.
The principal shared that when a child injured any part of the head, the standard SOP is for the teacher(s) to inform the principal/vice-principal of the incident and rush the child to the nearest affiliate clinic. The principal/vice-principal will need to assess the situation and inform the parents accordingly.
Since the injury happened in school, the parents can submit the receipt for the treatment to the school and claim under school insurance.
The investigation outcome
The principal understood our side of the story and proceed with an internal investigation.
She informed us on the next day when she found out the piece of furniture that caused Kpo Kia’s injury – an easel. It was placed near the blocks play corner. Since it does not have sharp corners, everyone was surprised by the impact it can cause. To ensure the safety of the students in the school, the management will need to assess if they should remove the easel from all other classrooms.
We are glad that the whole incident can finally come to a closure after 2 weeks since it occurred. And feel grateful towards the principal and vice-principal who stayed back for the investigation and follow up actions.
Now, what’s next?
The doctor told Kpo Kia papa that the medical skin glue should start coming off from the 5th days onwards. But it’s been on her for almost 3 weeks by now, and it still remains strong. We tried applying olive oil to ‘soften’ the glue, but it does not seem to work. Checked with friends and seem like this will take a while to come off… Till then, hope she recovers soon!
