Injuries at school - who pays the doctor bill?

@rowantree (1186)
United States
September 12, 2010 12:35pm CST
On the 2nd day of school, my son's gym teacher decided to hold gym class outside. He led the class outside and then went back into the school. I don't know why, I'm guessing to get something. But the kids were all running around outside, unsupervised. They're in 4th grade, so it's not like they were in any real danger or anything, but still, left unsupervised when they should be supervised, especially outside. I say this because my son was one of the kids running around outside and he tripped. Unfortunately, there was a very large, metal pole that broke his fall to the ground. He hit the pole on his left side of his head at his temple. Then he fell to the ground. He does not remember tripping and he doesn't remember much of what happened after hitting the pole. He says he remembers grabbing the bench and hauling himself up onto the bench afterwards. He remembers other kids telling him that they've been hurt worse. When the gym teacher returned outdoors, my son asked to go to the nurse for a bandaid because his elbow was bleeding. My son was disoriented and didn't tell the teacher he'd hit his head and not one of his classmates told the teacher, either. The part about the classmates not telling the teacher is pretty amazing, because I've been there plenty of times and trust me, DRAMA rules. I don't understand why not one of those kids would go running for a teacher when my son hit his head and fell to the ground. I don't understand why not one of those kids wouldn't tell the teacher what happened once the teacher came back outside. Not one of them told the story until the nurse questioned the teacher. I get a call from the school nurse telling me that my son had come in because his elbow was bleeding and she happened to notice the swelling on his temple so she had him sit for 15 minutes and checked him for signs of concussion. There wasn't any, so she sent him back to class but it's school policy to call the parent when there's a head injury. She says he's fine. Not 15 minutes later, the nurse is back on the phone, asking me to pick up my son. Evidently his teacher sent him back down to the nurse, concerned about the swelling and the fact that my son didn't appear to be behaving normally (unusually quiet, disoriented). Nurse still insisting my son is fine but wants me to pick him up so I can monitor him. In between the first visit and the second, the nurse contacted the gym teacher & learned about what had happened from my son's classmates. I pick up my son and he is abnormally quiet, which is very scary, most Moms know when their kid is super quiet and usually wouldn't be, that's a red flag. We get home and he seems ok. I check his eyes with a flashlight to see how they're diliating (sp) and they seem ok. His temple area though, wow the bump is HUGE. The nurse told me "better out than in" but wow, the swelling is so unbelievably large. I find out that my son is afraid he's going to die due to the head injury, so I take care of that and he peps up. He heads to his room and comes back, asking me if he can put his eyeglasses on because things are a little blurry. Well I look at the list of concussion signs the nurse gave me and blurred vision is one of them, so I tell my son sure and dial the doctor's phone number. I hang up and we get in the car and head off to the doctor's. The bump gets bigger and bigger. The doctor gives him a very thorough examination and then rechecks him again just to make sure. Yep, he's just fine, no concussion, he was hit in a bad spot and doctor says the swelling will get better but then the bruising is going to happen and it'll go from the temple all the way across the eye. Super. The swelling did eventually go down and the bruising blossomed into this gorgeous display of purple, blue, red, yellow, orange, brown. It really was amazing to see. My son's eyelid swelled a bit for a few days but eventually that went down too. Today there is very minimal discoloration and a slight bump on his temple. It bothers me though, that the school never said to me anything about the class being unsupervised. I also know that it's our school policy that if a student is injured on school grounds due to neglect of the school, the school has to pay the medical bills for that student. Technically, the school is responsible for the doctor's bill. However, since my son didn't have a concussion, I don't feel I should push this issue. I would though like for the school to at least address the issue of the class being left unsupervised, although that's pretty obvious that's not going to happen. Have you ever had anything like this happen to your child at their school?
4 responses
@Babe8870 (23)
• United States
15 Sep 10
Its public and not government so really the school can't do anything. It would be like asking everyone in town to foot the bill. It is a public (local city taxes) school that help keep these schools going. Most schools offer a student insurance plan for purchase at the beginning of the year that is at fair value. It is well worth getting. I can tell you this about the school not being responsible because, here is a good example- you know how where you live or have lived is a reflection of how expensive or non-expensive a school is- you know by if they have computers or new books verses old books. Well most is payed by the community by fundraisers and the local taxes. So you see there is no way they could have that type of insurance when its locally ran. Thats what private schools are for, yah there you would get excellent care. I'm sure they have a hospital on campus. But this does make me think, wow you could start a large, I mean large fundraiser and purchase insurance as a group rate for all the kids at your sons school, to cut costs(-verses individual plans-) Just a thought! Good luck and write me back and tell me what is your outcome on the situation.
@rowantree (1186)
• United States
16 Sep 10
Sorry you must have missed this section of my post "I also know that it's our school policy that if a student is injured on school grounds due to neglect of the school, the school has to pay the medical bills for that student." I'm slightly incorrect on that statement though. For example, if the school holds a race outdoors on the blacktop and a student falls and is injured, the school is responsible for the student's medical bills. Student is injured on the monkey bars? School pays the medical bill. Since the teacher left the class unsupervised, the school is responsible for my son's medical bill. However, since our insurance will either pay it in full since our deductible is paid for this year or close to it, I'm not filing a claim with the school (I think I wrote that in my original post but I'm not sure now). For school systems who do not offer this though, your idea of a fundraiser certainly is a good one!
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
16 Sep 10
My school is meticulous about having supervision of the students at all times. At the very least, a letter would be put on file for the teacher that left the kids unsupervised outside. I would push the issue of the school paying the bill. It was their fault.
• United States
12 Sep 10
I am not sure if the school would be responsible for something like that. Children get hurt they bump their heads need stitches and break bones well at least some kids do (seems my daughter does at ever chance). How ever if the teacher instructed the class to stay in one spot or to sit down and wait for his return and the students did not follow his instructions then I would have to say that its a lesson learned for both the children and the teacher. Some times things happen while our children are not in our care regardless of if some one is standing right there next to them. Unfortunatly we have no way of protecting our children 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Trust me I have thought of ways to do it wrapping in bubble wrap still sounds like a good idea to me. How ever my daughter dont agree. Head injuries are always scary especially if its looking like a concussion. When my daughter was in kindergarten she and another girl ran head on into each other both hitting heads. Needless to say my daughter and the other little girl both had huge goose eggs on their forheads where they hit and their was a teacher right there when it happened. With kids accidents happen and as a parent when we let our children go off with out us we cross our fingers and hope for the best at least I do. I know that the teachers are only human and are bound to make mistakes like we all do. As I said I can only hope for the best. Maybe I am very lucky because my daughter goes to a great school and really enjoys it and the teachers all treat the kids like a great big extended family. Any way I hope your little guy gets to feeling better. At least he has a cool bruise to talk about for a while (that's what my brothers would have done lol)
• Philippines
12 Sep 10
Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that. I actually would want a little support from the school if something like that happened to my kid. First up, support in the sense that there should have been someone monitoring the kids. Next, if accidents happen, I would definitely hope they would be able to take care of everything. I hope your kid gets well soon. Poor kid!