Diabetic 9yr old with broken arm

dandelionclock30

littlesnuggy wrote: »

Those of you talking about training/going on courses/having time to prepare.... they are not being asked to become diabetes experts, they are being asked to facilitate a process so simple that a 9 year old (and younger) can do it under normal circumstances. The 9 year old will take care of the important bit (getting the dose right). It is the simple procedure of guiding a very small (probably 4 or 5mm long) needle into the fatty flesh such as stomach or thing. It is not rocket science and it does not require a in depth medical training, just some willingness to help in the short term.

Its not the actual act thats difficult, its the problem that if something happens which it can then the person can be sued and if they havent been on proper courses etc then they are leaving themselves and the school wide open. You have to be ultra careful where kids are concerned even more so when there are medical issues.
The Mum or a school nurse should do it. I thought that there were peripatetic school nurses that would go into schools as and when needed. I would ask the Local Authority what they had to offer myself.

chocdonuty

How long ago was the arm broken?
I ask as after a couple of weeks my dd, like many other kids could use their hands almost as normal, obviously this depends on the size of the cast and type of break but after a few weeks mobility wasn't much of an issue, it may not be such a problem when she goes back to school. You have a week or two to maybe work around the cast. Also if you have a check up at the fracture clinic she may be given a splint rather than a cast which could be removed at injection time if suitable.
Kids often act as if a break makes their arm completly immobile for the first few days then soon find ways to do most things without it!:D

rach29

There are a lot of misinformed people responding on this thread which is really quite sad to read. If you know nothing about Type1 diabetes, please follow one of the links posted earlier & educate yourselves. We are not talking about an "injection" from a syringe as many seem to believe, but a tiny needle !!!!! that goes into a fatty area of skin. As a parent of a diabetic I was "trained" to inject him in about 10 minutes flat! Anyone can learn & schools have a responsibility under the new (September) legislation to attend to the care needs of any child at the school & no child may be discriminated against by dint of a medical need.

OP I suggest you contact the Diabetic Nurse Specialist who looks after your daughter & ask her to arrange urgent training at your child's school. Any member of staff can be trained to administer insulin & all staff should be trained to recognise the effects of a hypo & know how to treat it. I would suggest that if you have an email for the school you contact them this way, as most schools will have a member of staff checking the emails at the very least.

My son has been assisted at school by a number of staff since his diagnosis at age 6 & most staff have received training to some degree so that his needs are met. For the past year he has injected himself, with supervision, and as be has just moved into a pump 3 staff will be trained on pump use on the first day of the new term, so that they can offer assistance should be need it.

Good luck OP, maybe from a bad situation (broken arm) some good will come, by the better understanding of your daughters condition by the school staff.

Person_one

Insulin given with a pen is still an injection, it's a needle going into the skin and injecting a drug, it might not seem as big a deal as injections with a syringe and a bigger needle, but injection is still definitely the right word!

I agree with you rach29 that the most important thing is that the school staff can recognise a hypo and know what to do. I can't blame anybody for being wary about actually giving insulin though, it's a huge responsibility even though it might not seem that way.

Hopefully, the OP's daughter will find that she can still manage with her cast on and there won't be any major problems to deal with!

rach29

PersonOne you are correct, the term is definitely "injection" I just wanted to make it clear that it's not through a syringe type injection as some on the thread seem to think. It is a huge responsibility to administer a drug to any child, but in the case of diabetes the training is very simple and very straightforward.

There are needles a available which are "shielded" for staff to use (so as to avoid needle sticks) so the risk of that is negligible. Also if the OP is using the carb counting method of calculating the insulin dose, she can advise the school of what the dosage should be each day, so there is very little risk of giving too much or too little insulin.

It takes a couple of minutes to complete the whole test & inject process so time considerations are minimal.

Children have a right to fully participate in all aspects of school life wether diabetic or otherwise. It takes a small adjustment on the part of the school to facilitate this & is now an adjustment the school is required to make, like it or not.

I for one am glad that schools no longer have the option to do nothing, not just for diabetics but for all children with disabilities.

OP let us know how you get on.

Ames

I think the issue is more with being responsible for the amount of insulin (even if the child decides how much) rather than the act of injection.

rosalie-lavender

As soon as we had our first child in the school I work in diagnosed with diabetes, the school nurse came in to talk to the staff. She talked to us about diabetes generally and how it would be likely to affect the child concerned. We were taught how to use the insulin pen with a dummy pen with no needle. All children with health problems including the diabetics have a care plan that can be referred to if need be.

The staff including the teachers, TA's and lunchtime staff supervise the diabetics care. We all know what to look for to help prevent a hypo and what to do or who to send for if there is a problem.
Mostly the children (of primary age) manage their own testing and insulin injecting but I have no doubt that if one broke an arm their parents wouldn't have any need to worry in the way the OP is. The problem would be sorted without any fuss and a member of staff would help out with injecting until the arm was healed.

It seems from reading this discussion that our school is in the minority.

moomoomama27

If the parent is receiving carers allowance then surely this falls under the umbrella of the DLA payment they receive?

At this short notice, it is in all likelihood not something a school would do without training! You would have to enquire with the SENCO if training is available to staff for the future.

Addiscomber

Why is everyone so sure that the family get a carer's allowance for a child with diabetes? What on earth do those of you who have no experience of a child with type1 diabetes think is involved in their care beyond supervising their diet and insulin regime? You have to look after and feed a child in any case and keeping an eye on the insulin regime doesn't take long.

rach29

Rosalie's explanation of the plans in place for diabetics in her school mirror very well the situation at my son's school. I appreciate that for a school having a diabetic for the first time is a big adjustment, where staff training needs to take place, however, in the OP'e case, presumably the school has already done this training & only needs to have staff trained to administer the insulin for her daughter in the short term.

My Sons teachers & TA's did his injections for him in the early days, but more recently he has done them himself. Now that he is on a pump he will be more self sufficient, However, the staff will still supervise him & assist him with it when required. Without their assistance I would have had to give up my job in order to carry this out instead. Something which neither carers nor DLA would come even close to compensating for.

I calculate the insulin dosage for the school & write in in a book every morning. The school then write down the blood glucose level & actual dosage given & send it back to me in the book each evening. The staff have no need to calculate the dosage for a child. Once I have calculated the dosage the only change would be dependent on a written down adjustment for high or low blood sugars. Some, if not all local authorities now offer a carbohydrate counted school dinner menu so that parents of diabetics can calculate insulin dosage based on this.

From my point of view the schools assistance has allowed me to continue in my work & given my son the independence he wants and deserves. Diabetes is a much misunderstood condition, but good training in schools will hopefully educate more & more people to the daily realities of living with the condition.