HS121 Medical assistance and incident management

All practicable steps are taken to get immediate medical assistance for a child who is seriously injured or becomes seriously ill, and to notify a parent of what has happened.

Documentation required

1. A record of all injuries, illnesses and incidents that occur at the service. Records include:

   • the child’s name

   • the date, time and description of the injury, illness or incident

   • actions taken and by whom and

   • evidence that parents have been informed.

2. A procedure outlining the service’s response to injury, illness and incident, including the review and implementation of practices as required.

How to show you are complying

Injuries, illnesses and incidents are part of the early childhood experiences, most of the time providing basic first aid and keeping parents informed of the event and what actions you have taken will be sufficient. However, if a child becomes seriously injured or ill, you will also need to act quickly to get medical help.

Serious injury is not defined by a fixed list, but typically refers to any injury that:

• requires resuscitation

• leads to hospital admission for more than 24 hours

• involves a broken bone or suspected fracture

• causes dislocation of a major joint (for example, shoulder, knee, hip, or elbow)

• results in loss of consciousness

• triggers severe breathing difficulties, including asphyxia

• penetrates the eye or causes a chemical or hot metal burn to the eye

• involves a head injury, especially if the child loses consciousness or becomes disoriented

• causes burns

• leads to excessive or uncontrollable bleeding

• leaves the child unresponsive or struggling to speak

• causes convulsions, seizures, or fainting.

Serious illness isn’t defined by a fixed list, but includes any condition that:

• produces a prolonged high fever, particularly if accompanied by a rash

• triggers an anaphylactic reaction

• results from ingesting toxic substances or foreign objects.

You must seek medical assistance in some circumstances

If a child is seriously ill or injured while in your care, you must make sure that child gets immediate medical assistance.

It is better to seek medical assistance if you are unsure about the seriousness of an injury or illness than to wait and see. In these circumstances, it is best to call 111.

Calling services like Healthline or Plunketline can be helpful when you're seeking advice or guidance generally about a child’s health. However, this is not the same as seeking immediate medical assistance.

Advice involves recommendations about what you might do next, but it doesn’t replace direct medical assistance and care. If a child has a serious illness or injury and requires urgent attention, you should contact emergency services or take the child to a healthcare provider.

Services must notify parents if a child is seriously ill or injured

If a child is seriously ill or injured, you must notify parents as soon as possible. Ideally this would be a phone call to the parent directly. You should provide detailed information about what happened, when it occurred, and the actions you have taken in response.

To make sure you can reach parents quickly in an emergency, keep enrolment records up to date with current contact details.

You must keep records

You must keep a record of all incidents, injuries and illnesses that happen at the service, even if a parent or visitor tells you about it later.

Records of incidents, injuries, and illnesses that happen at the service can be kept in a range of written formats (digital or hard copy). Whichever format is used, all parts of the record must be kept.

Your records must include:

• the child's name

• the date, time and description of the injury, illness or incident

• actions taken and by whom; and

• evidence that parents have been informed.

This means not all formats of record keeping will be suitable. For example, a phone call will not meet the bullet point requirements for maintaining a record.

Recording all injuries, illnesses and incidents is important. This is because:

• the record of injury, incident or illness will be of assistance to paramedics or the child’s doctor if further assessment of the child’s health is required

• an injury, illness or incident that might be considered minor initially, can sometimes become more serious after a period of time

• records can help you see patterns or trends that can indicate changes are needed to prevent harm.

For any injury or incident that is notifiable under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA), you must keep the records for 5 years from the date of the incident.

Procedure outlining the service’s response

You need a procedure outlining how your service will respond to injury, illness and incidents, including how you review and improve your practices when you identified changes are needed.

Notify relevant agencies when required

Some injuries, illnesses, or accidents must be reported under specific legislation. Services must understand and comply with these broader notification obligations.

There may be injuries and illnesses that are considered serious in the context of notification that may not require seeking immediate medical assistance. For example, if there were contagious gastrointestinal illnesses, you would contact parents or caregivers to take the child home rather than call 111.

See HS128 for more information on when to notify agencies.

HS128 Notification to the Education Review Office