Accident and Emergency policy

It is our policy to keep children safe when they are in our care.
Our premises have been checked by Ofsted and they meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage in England. We also regularly review, update and practise fire evacuation procedures. We record dates and times of fire drills.

Accidents to minded children, childminder's own children, or the childminder:

As registered childminders, We are legally required to have a valid first-aid certificate before registration.
We can administer basic first-aid treatment, and our first-aid box is clearly labelled and easily accessible. It is stored in our main play area. Parent contact numbers are kept securely with the first-aid box.
We hold written permission from parents in the child registration form to seek emergency treatment for their child if it is needed.
We also have an arrangement as registered childminder between us to provide emergency back-up cover if necessary.

Procedure (how I will put the statement into practice):

If there is an accident to a minded child or childminder’s own children:
1. First, we reassure the injured child while making sure that the other children in our care are safe. This may mean strapping a baby in a buggy or sitting an older child somewhere safe where I can see them.
2. Then, if the accident is a minor one and requires only basic first aid, we deal with it ourselves. If not, we will ring 999 for help.
3. If we have to accompany or take a child to hospital, we either take the other children with us, or one of us will stay behind with the other registered childminder or known responsible adults. These people will be made known to parents at the settling-in visit.
If there is an accident, we may contact you and you will be expected to collect your child straight away.
If we manage to deal with the accident ourselves, then we will tell the affected child's parents immediately and advise of any first aid treatment given.
If we accompany or take a child to hospital, we will contact the child's parent and ask them to meet me at the hospital.
If we or any of my own children have an accident, we will get the nearest responsible adult to help, while my emergency back-up people are being contacted.
We will do my best at all times to make sure the children in our care are safe, reassured and kept calm.

Accidents off site:

We will carry parents contact details with us when we are away from our home, in order to follow procedures above should an accident occur off site.

Other emergencies:

Should any other emergency occur (such as a terrorist attack, or a member of our family becoming ill in our home) we will contact parents as soon as possible. We expect that parents will also contact us in the event of any accident or emergency which may befall them.
Should it not be possible for parents to contact us, then we will keep the children safe until such time as parents can make contact with us.

Recording:

We will record all details in our accident book, and make these available for parents to sign and provide a copy for parents (if needed).
If the incident is significant we will inform Ofsted, the local child protection agency, the Health and Safety Executive and our insurance company as soon as is reasonably practicable but in any event within 14 days of the incident occurring.

If there is anything in this policy that you are unclear about or unhappy with, please email us or contact us