Posted By Mark Eastbourne
Hi

Sorry, just need some clarification if possible.

I work at a college, a young student self harmed herself but first aider was told not to contact parent because it is her right not to want her parent to know, which she didn't.

Is this right? Any legal implication for us as an organisation!?

Anyone come across anything similar?

Mark

Posted By Bob Youel
Its first aid at work but as the student is not at work get this area bottomed - Talk to HR and similar posts to clarify your policy and the way to go

I do not think that its as simple as it looks as a 16 year old can have certain things associated with them without parental permission and a 17 year old is nearly an adult so there may be other areas to consider! So clarify the position first before you make any final decisions.

As already noted, self harm needs to be confirmed etc by experts and is a very complicated subject noting that a first aider may be getting lead down a path which can increase an employers liability etc and as already said by others there must be a core problem which wants sorting

The core problem may be something home or school related or even a friend issue - so it may be a case of providing very basic advice to the child without telling the parents but, as already said, you need as much knowledge etc as you gan get before you address issues with the child / others

in that kind of environment this issue would have been faced before so some competence should be close at hand

best of luck

Posted By Martyn Hendrie
It struck me reading this that the basis of the question was simply because the person was not yet 18. At 17 the person is old enough and in different circumstances could be married and completely outside parental control.

For all the first aider knows the parents could be a contributing factor to any self harm.

IMHO better to encourage the person to speak to a qualified counsellor (the college may already employ someone) who can then help the person

Posted By Phil Rose
Mark

Can I suggest that you have a look at, every child matters

http://publications.teac...SafeGuard.Chd%20bkmk.pdf

Posted By C. Wright
Whilst working with a youth project we were always told that in cases where there was doubt to the origins of an injury social services should be informed they will find out if there is a history of harming and if so who the case worker is so they can be helped with counselling

Posted By jervis
Has it been reported in first aid book if so i would and at 17 they are classified as a child so maybe this could of been reported!!!!

Posted By D H
Mark - did you have a procedure in place to deal with type of incident?

I think not - but use it as a learning curve and get something established as it could happen again.

I would suggest that you remove this person from your premises - but there may be a law against this - someone will have "human rights issue"

And I stand ready to be shot at here - but the people involved as well as you have a duty of care.

Failure to contact the parents and let them know of this event could be seen as negligence in a court of law if that person does something similar in another place.

You knew what they were capable of but did not alert someone.

I would suggest this is not a safety matter - more H R

Dave

Posted By Pete48
This is a student at an FE college. A disclosure has been made by a young person to an employee of the college. If you honestly do not know what to do I suggest that you contact urgently the nominated person in your college and take guidance from them. If you do not know who that is, report this to your HR people and ask them for guidance.
There are protocols to follow and it is vitally important for the continued safety of the young person that these are followed.
Please do check quickly.

Posted By Karl B
Hi all,
Posting as a first aider, FPOS IHCD I, Royal collage of surgeons etc, and a trainer within a medical academy, I have this question to ask. Would your responses be the same if the patient in question had an alcohol or drugs problem at 17?

Posted By Mark Eastbourne
Don't mean to bring this to the top but just wanted to thamk everyone for their responses.

Seems the key here is the "Every Child Matters" initiative - thanks Phil.

Although all staff have undertaken mandatory training, the training did not highlight this type of scenario and as such we are manning to mitigate this happening again.

Thank you for your thoughts,

Mark