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Rough Day - just want to scream!!

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
W

Willowz

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
When N came out of school today I could tell she was hypo, she was white as a sheet and shaking like a leaf, couldn't walk in a straight line and was unable to put her arms in her coat sleeves without help. I took her back inside because her meter doesn't work properly in the cold and the back playground at school is freezing! I was supporting her the whole way! Checked her blood and it was 2.2!

What makes me angry is she told her teacher she felt funny and he said, well you can wait til you get home now!!! So I left her sat on the floor with a friend because although she had dextrose tablets on her, I thought one of her mini cans would work quicker, the cans are in the classroom, so I went in and said can I have one of N's cans please because she's at 2.2.

He had the good grace to look sheepish and couldn't quite meet my eyes.

The DSN is supposed to be going back out to school soon to do some more training, it can't come soon enough. All it would have taken was somebody, anybody to walk round to the back playground where we get the younger one from and tell us N was hypo and I would have come and dealt with it. Rather than making the poor child walk to us! 😡

I'm currently writing up everything into a plan for school, so this doesn't happen again!

On a positive note I spoke to the DSN this evening and we have changed the doses againand are now only correcting if it goes above 10 (it was 8 previously) and increasing the dose at breakfast, which should reduce the need for correction, which seems to be giving her the bad hypos.
 
What an awful attitude 😱 he obviously doesn't realise the seriousness of a hypo! Do hope you get things sorted out quickly,

take care,

Shirl
 
Write all this down and and send a copy to the SENCO, the Head, and the School Nurse. This is NOT acceptable and should never happen again.😱 Tell your DSN what happened and ask for a meeting with the school about this incident and ask that this particular teacher is present. Then gather all your evidence and show them how negligent the teacher was. Quite apart from the fact that N should not have been left to walk alone, N could have dropped even lower by using up energy and could have dropped to the floor on her own without anyone realising what was wrong with her. Also point out that once levels are 2.5 or under this can actually do damage to the brain if left untreated and had N been lower than this then the consequences could have been dire.

Do not let this go - things could have turned out worse than they did. What if N had gone to the toilet and collapsed - how long before anyone found her there. Ask the teacher if he has read the care plan - if he says yes - then ask why he didnt follow the rules for hypo. If he says no - ask him why not. I feel angry for you and N and this is just not good enough - how dare a teacher ignore a child who is having a diabetic crisis - it beggars belief. You would not drop N into the middle of a field and let her fend for herself - so why would the teacher expect her to fend for herself when her brain was being starved of glucose and then be expected to keep on walking - making the whole situation a lot worse.

I know it is hard - but try to be factual rather than emotional - and do not let the teacher or the school make excuses for this awful neglect.:(🙂Bev
 
Can't really add to what bev has said, except to say that I am sorry this has happened. The teacher in question clearly does not realise the magnitude of the problem - it's not just feeling a bit off, it's a potential medical emergency. I have had a couple of hypos where I have been unable to move/walk anywhere because I have been extremely disorientated - but thankfully, I was able to treat myself and wait until I recovered. A child may not realise or understand what is happening.

I hope that the message can be hammered home and this never happens again.
 
Apparently we have no care plan yet! Because she is so newly diagnosed, she won't have one until she is stabalised. I am working on a letter to the head teacher as we speak and am writing my own plan for them to use in the interim.

Yeah exactly Bev I dread to think what could of happened. Lucky for her she only felt really bad in the last 5-10 minutes of school.
 
So sorry you've had to go through this. Sounds like you have a good plan though.
 
Willowz said:
Apparently we have no care plan yet! Because she is so newly diagnosed, she won't have one until she is stabalised. I am working on a letter to the head teacher as we speak and am writing my own plan for them to use in the interim.

Yeah exactly Bev I dread to think what could of happened. Lucky for her she only felt really bad in the last 5-10 minutes of school.
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Well thats a crock of crockness if ever I heard it.😱

I am stunned that your team have said that you dont need a care plan until N is stabilised - are they waiting until she is at University - what is a 'stabilized' diabetic child - show me one.............:confused:

Oooh I am so angry now - what on earth do they mean. They can write a care plan that tells them the protocol for a hypo, a hyper, what to do if N collapses, when to test, when to correct, and lots and lots more - what do they mean..............

Is it the school or the diabetes team saying this utter rubbish to you.😡🙂Bev
 
I asked at reception this afternoon before I knew about the hypo (I was on my way into school) and the receptionist didn't know so asked the school nurse. So it came from the school nurse.

I was so busy trying to sort doses out this evening with the DSN that I completly forgot to ask about the care plan.
 
Willowz said:
I asked at reception this afternoon before I knew about the hypo (I was on my way into school) and the receptionist didn't know so asked the school nurse. So it came from the school nurse.

I was so busy trying to sort doses out this evening with the DSN that I completly forgot to ask about the care plan.
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I hope you realise I wasnt getting at you.🙂

I am just so shocked that a school have let N go back full time without a care plan in place. Does the School Nurse realise what diabetes means in a child - are there any other diabetic children in the school. I also cant believe your team havent been into school yet. When Alex was diagnosed, our school wouldnt take him back until the DSN had been in to give them a talk and the DSN also wouldnt let him go back until she had done this - it is to keep everyone safe - the child needs to be safe - but also the school need to *know* what to expect and how to manage a possible emergency situation - so it covers them too. If I were you, I would say that N doesnt go back to school after christmas (or even before) until or unless there is a care plan in place - and make sure that you agree to the care plan before the DSN just sorts it out. I could ask on the CWD list for you if anyone has a care plan for this age group - sorry what age is N I have forgotten.🙂Bev
 
N is 9 almost 10.

The DSN has been in once already and given them all training, while N was in hospital. She is now going out again because the school have requested more training. N is now doing her own injections, and a supervisory adult is dialling up the pen for her.

They have one other child in the school, who has been diagnosed since reception and is now in year 4.

N's teaching assistant says she has looked after diabetic children before. But her actual teacher hasn't. He's only been qualified 2 years. Hopefully with my plan and letter this will help.
 
Some of these teachers need shooting and more training. I have thought for a long time teachers should be trained in how to deal with things like hypos, asthma attacks and seizures.
 
At the school I work at, they have a yearly meeting led by the school nurse, who discusses diabetes, epi-pens and anaphylaxis and epilepsy.
I attended this years meeting, first one i've been to, as I was intruiged what info was given about diabetes and also to learn about the other 2 areas.
The information that was given was actually quite good, although the meeting only lasted 30mins to cover everything and only about 10 members of staff turned up. This meeting is for any staff that want to attend, but it is not compulsary. In the staff room there is a board for children with high risk medical problems with all their pictures and conditions, so any teachers can easily find out the info if they want to. The thing that gets me is, what about the ones that don't put the effort in to find out? Yes they might see the childs picture, see their name and "insulin dependant" next to it, but then what? I'm sure some will think, "If anything happens I'll just send them to the first aider".
During the meeting I actually had to speak up and disagree with the advice of giving glucogel to an unconcious child. The nurses argument was, if the child is put in the recovery position and the glucogel is only put into the 'cheek well' (don't know the proper name) then they can't choke on it. My argument was that Glucogel as a company used to say "suitable to be given even if unconscious' until someone died when they choked on it. Now they say "GLUCOGEL MUST NEVER BE GIVEN TO UNCONSCIOUS INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF CHOKING". And a panicing member of staff who remembers the nurse saying "give it to the child if they are unconcious" will just think, 'get it down their throat quick to make them better'. Other than that I was quite pleased with the information provided.
The diabetic children at the school have care plans, but I don't know how quickly they were put together after they started at the school or were diagnosed. I agree with Bev though, they should be created ASAP, waiting to be stabalised is just a fob off IMO and they'll do it when they can be bothered to get round to it.
 
redrevis said:
At the school I work at, they have a yearly meeting led by the school nurse, who discusses diabetes, epi-pens and anaphylaxis and epilepsy.
I attended this years meeting, first one i've been to, as I was intruiged what info was given about diabetes and also to learn about the other 2 areas.
The information that was given was actually quite good, although the meeting only lasted 30mins to cover everything and only about 10 members of staff turned up. This meeting is for any staff that want to attend, but it is not compulsary. In the staff room there is a board for children with high risk medical problems with all their pictures and conditions, so any teachers can easily find out the info if they want to. The thing that gets me is, what about the ones that don't put the effort in to find out? Yes they might see the childs picture, see their name and "insulin dependant" next to it, but then what? I'm sure some will think, "If anything happens I'll just send them to the first aider".
During the meeting I actually had to speak up and disagree with the advice of giving glucogel to an unconcious child. The nurses argument was, if the child is put in the recovery position and the glucogel is only put into the 'cheek well' (don't know the proper name) then they can't choke on it. My argument was that Glucogel as a company used to say "suitable to be given even if unconscious' until someone died when they choked on it. Now they say "GLUCOGEL MUST NEVER BE GIVEN TO UNCONSCIOUS INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF CHOKING". And a panicing member of staff who remembers the nurse saying "give it to the child if they are unconcious" will just think, 'get it down their throat quick to make them better'. Other than that I was quite pleased with the information provided.
The diabetic children at the school have care plans, but I don't know how quickly they were put together after they started at the school or were diagnosed. I agree with Bev though, they should be created ASAP, waiting to be stabalised is just a fob off IMO and they'll do it when they can be bothered to get round to it.
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Hi Redrevis,
Well done for speaking up about the glucogel - people are now advised not to use it for this very reason - and also because schools were thinking that there was something in it that was better than normal glucose - which there isnt and it tastes awful. I think your school nurse could do with some updating, as, if you gave this to an unconscious child/adult the consequences could be dire. It should be made compulsory to have teachers attend any medical talks.🙂Bev
 
Willowz said:
When N came out of school today I could tell she was hypo, she was white as a sheet and shaking like a leaf, couldn't walk in a straight line and was unable to put her arms in her coat sleeves without help. I took her back inside because her meter doesn't work properly in the cold and the back playground at school is freezing! I was supporting her the whole way! Checked her blood and it was 2.2!

What makes me angry is she told her teacher she felt funny and he said, well you can wait til you get home now!!! So I left her sat on the floor with a friend because although she had dextrose tablets on her, I thought one of her mini cans would work quicker, the cans are in the classroom, so I went in and said can I have one of N's cans please because she's at 2.2.

He had the good grace to look sheepish and couldn't quite meet my eyes.

The DSN is supposed to be going back out to school soon to do some more training, it can't come soon enough. All it would have taken was somebody, anybody to walk round to the back playground where we get the younger one from and tell us N was hypo and I would have come and dealt with it. Rather than making the poor child walk to us! 😡

I'm currently writing up everything into a plan for school, so this doesn't happen again!

On a positive note I spoke to the DSN this evening and we have changed the doses againand are now only correcting if it goes above 10 (it was 8 previously) and increasing the dose at breakfast, which should reduce the need for correction, which seems to be giving her the bad hypos.
Click to expand...


Oh my god I can't believe that from a teacher, that is so awful. I would go to the head teacher and complain. This must not happen to any child. :( :( Sheena
 
That is so awful but I'm so glad N is ok and that you got to her in time, phew! I'm dreading when Carly starts go to Nursery/school but I will have to make sure they are prepared before I let her go in so its look like a care plan is the best - I wouldn't let N go to school until the care plan is sorted but I'm sure you know what is best and good luck, also don't let this go quietly! 🙂
 
That is just shocking but I'm glad N is okay she must have been scared. The thought of having a really bad hypo and people not helping just makes me really angry as I've had it happen to me in the past. I hope that something like this does not happen again x
 
Quite simply unacceptable.

I thought we were past the times whereby school staff are ignorant of children with diabetes.

I believe that the charity JDRF do school packs to educate schools about the condition.

Glad N is ok
 
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