Daycare Injuries

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There are many benefits associated with sending your child to a daycare facility. Not only do they allow you to return to work, which could boost your financial prospects, but they can also help them to develop a range of essential skills under the watchful eyes of trained childcare professionals.

Despite this, one study found that “children who attend childcare centers ≥10 h per week have a higher injury prevalence than those cared for by parents at home.” This figure alone makes it clear why many parents feel apprehensive about sending their children to these facilities, despite their many benefits

If your child is injured at daycare, it’s important that you pursue legal action by contacting a Daycare Injury Attorney. After all, not only will this help you receive compensation, but it can also reduce the chances of a similar incident happening to another family in the future.

In this article, we’ll explore the various responsibilities that daycare facilities must uphold as, when breached, they open the door for accidents, injuries, and legal cases.

What responsibilities do Daycares have towards parents and attendees?

To begin with, it’s essential to know what legal and ethical responsibilities childcare providers must uphold within their facilities. This is the easiest way to identify whether a breach has occurred or if your child is getting the support and care they deserve.

While the specific regulations and laws may vary from state to state, all daycares must:

• Provide children with a safe learning environment.
• Hire trained staff.
• Offer constant supervision.
• Have a system in place for reporting accidents and injuries.

Provide children with a safe learning environment.

There are many government legislations that outline the health and safety standards that must be upheld within daycare facilities in order to protect attendees and their families. For example, staff should work to create environments that are free from potential tripping hazards in order to minimize the risk of injury. Leaving toys or other supplies scattered around the floor may seem inevitable when looking after large groups of children; in doing so, they are increasing the risk of an accident occurring on-site.

Spaces must also be kept as clean and hygienic as possible to “ prevent harmful germs from spreading among children and staff.” This means that all areas, from toilets to playrooms, must be cleaned and sanitized several times a day. Areas in which food is served or prepared must also be appropriately managed.

Maintaining hygiene standards is particularly important when you consider the fact that children’s immune systems tend to be a little weaker than an adult’s immune system. This means children “may be prone to contact a viral infection and take more time to recover from it.”

Hire trained staff.

In order to provide the best possible care for children and infants, daycare facilities must also ensure that they hire well-trained and experienced staff. For example, staff should have all of the relevant childcare and health and safety qualifications before joining the team. It is also the legal responsibility of the owners or hiring managers to carry out relevant background checks when hiring new staff. This is a federal law that is enforced to “ensure that all staff in licensed child care programs pass state and federal criminal background checks.” Without proper background checks, companies may hire staff who should not be allowed to work with children, putting their safety and well-being at risk.

While all staff should be able to administer basic first aid to children, there should also be numerous people within the team who are able to offer more comprehensive support when a severe accident occurs.

Offer constant supervision.

The majority of daycare injuries occur when staff are not paying close attention to children, leaving them to their own devices. This is a direct violation of the facility’s core responsibility – which is to monitor and care for children, ensuring they are not left unattended for any period of time.

One of the primary reasons why this deviation may occur is due to facilities being understaffed. This means that there are likely more children present than the team can care for at once, which once again puts everyone at risk. For example, according to government regulations, the following staff: child ratios should exist:

If you’ve noticed that your child’s daycare facility appears to be understaffed, it’s important that you report this. While it may not seem like a significant issue to begin with, it’s crucial that they are able to appropriately deal with the number of children present each day. After all, an accident can occur within mere seconds when children are unsupervised – meaning they’d only have to turn away from a moment in order for something potentially disastrous to happen.

Have a system in place for reporting accidents and injuries.

While it is the responsibility of childcare providers to prevent accidents and injuries wherever possible, they should also have a system in place for responding to and reporting any incidents that occur on-site. For example, they should:

• Assess the child’s injuries, carrying out any necessary first aid or contacting health services if necessary.
• Document the incident, ensuring that a full report is made. This report should include information such as the child’s name, the time the accident occurred, their injuries, and what caused it. The more detailed, the better.
• Notify parents or guardians, letting them know what has happened.
• Review and improve safety protocols after the fact to see if any changes can be made to avoid this accident occurring again in the future.

If accidents go unreported, this is a clear sign that a daycare facility is failing in its duty of care to children. After all, it means that it’s unlikely that they are trying to get to the bottom of the accident in order to prevent a similar occurrence in the future, which could put more children at risk.

All members of staff must be aware of these protocols and should uphold them within their daily routines.

What happens when daycares do not uphold their responsibilities?

When daycare facilities do not uphold these responsibilities, whether this be due to a poor child-staff ratio or negligence, the health and safety of every child within the facility are put at risk. As a result, the likelihood of some kind of accident occurring increases significantly.

While deaths at daycare facilities are rare and tend to be the product of underlying health conditions, they can also occur as a result of a facility failing to uphold its responsibilities and duties.

Common daycare injuries.

Unfortunately, there are a variety of ways in which children could become injured within a daycare facility. Some of the most common daycare injuries include:

• Trips and falls. Younger children (especially those that are still learning to walk) are already more likely to trip and fall than older children. As a result, it’s no surprise that trips and falls are among the most common daycare injuries that child injury lawyers encounter during their work. They occur frequently in spaces where health and safety standards are not maintained, such as when the room is full of tripping hazards or playground equipment is not properly maintained.

• Cuts and abrasions. Cuts and abrasions are also an example of common daycare injuries. For example, they could be caused by children playing a little too roughly with each other or falling over. Cuts and abrasions can seem minor, but they could lead to other conditions, such as infections and sepsis.

• Burns. There are many reasons why children may deal with daycare burn injuries. For example, they may put their hands under the hot water tap, scalding their skin. Alternatively, this could be caused by hot liquids or food.

• Choking. Choking is one of the leading causes of serious injury among children. In fact, “more than 12,000 children are taken to a hospital emergency room each year for food-choking injuries.” In daycare facilities, choking incidents can occur when children are not supervised when playing or eating.

• Sprains & Breaks. Sprains and breaks are common daycare injuries, which once again arise from unsupervised play, trips, and falls, or the use of damaged play equipment. For example, children may fall from climbing frames that aren’t properly maintained.

• Head injuries. Slips, trips, and falls, or unsupervised play could also lead to head injuries among children. For example, they may fall and hit their head on furniture or toys. As this can lead to long-standing damage and health complications, it’s important that staff do not take head injuries lightly and work to prevent them as much as possible.

• Allergic reactions. Daycare staff are also responsible for understanding the specific health needs of each child under their care, especially those with allergies. This information should be provided by parents when children enroll and should be passed on to all staff. When these needs are not addressed, children may deal with severe allergic reactions that must be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

• Abuse. In some cases, children may deal with injuries as a result of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. In these instances, it’s imperative that legal action is pursued and that those responsible face legal consequences.

How a Child Injury Lawyer can help.

Sometimes, accidents happen, especially in groups of children who are playing together. However, it’s crucial that you’re able to differentiate the injuries that happen through general play and those that are the product of negligence from those that you are paying to care for your children.

As such, if your daycare facility has failed to meet its responsibilities, and your child is dealing with a serious injury as a result, you have the grounds to pursue legal action. After all, the fallout from these injuries can impact not only your child’s life but yours too. For example, you may have to deal with additional healthcare and insurance costs as they step onto the road of recovery, and you may also be worried about leaving your child at other daycare facilities as trust has been broken.

While you may feel apprehensive about pursuing action against a facility that has, in the past, provided your child with love and support, it’s important to note that if they have not upheld their duty, the chances of another accident occurring are relatively high. However, when legal action is taken, facilities will be obligated to make any necessary changes to their practices, which not only protects your own child but other children too.

In any case, reaching out to a daycare injury attorney can help you to pursue justice while protecting the best interests of your child (and other children who attend the same daycare). They will be able to help you throughout every stage of the process, working towards the best possible outcome.

For example, once they understand the situation at hand, they’ll be able to provide you with insight into what legal charges you can pursue or what kind of compensation may be available to you. Beyond this, they’ll also help you to gather relevant evidence to support your case, such as documentation from medical facilities, incident reports, witness statements, and more. As this evidence is often crucial when securing a conviction, it’s important that you’re able to back up your claims.

They’ll also support you within the court setting, ensuring you receive the appropriate compensation for the situation at hand. This will give you great peace of mind if you are inexperienced within the legal world or find the entire situation to be somewhat overwhelming.

If you’d like to find out more, please do not hesitate to get in touch today.