Childcare incident, injury, trauma and illness procedure
SOP template
Check this template against your local regulations and your own policies before you use it.
| SOP no. | Version | Effective date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Approver | Review date |
Purpose
To make sure every child who is hurt, becomes unwell or experiences trauma at the service gets the right care straight away, that their family is told promptly, and that every incident is recorded, reported where required and reviewed so it doesn’t happen again.
Scope
All children, educators, students and volunteers at the service, during normal hours and on excursions. It covers injuries, illness, trauma, and incidents such as a child going missing or being taken from the service without authority.
Responsibilities
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Educator who sees or is told of the incident | Makes the area safe, gives or calls for first aid, supervises the other children and starts the record. |
| First aider | Gives first aid within their training and decides with the person in charge whether to call emergency services. |
| Person in charge | Contacts the family, notifies the regulator of serious incidents, checks the record is complete and leads the review. |
| Families | Keep contact details current, collect an unwell child when asked, and acknowledge the incident record. |
Definitions
- Incident
- Any event at the service that harms a child or could have, including a near miss.
- Trauma
- The impact of an event that is distressing or frightening for a child, whether or not they were physically hurt.
- Serious incident
- An incident your local regulations require you to report to the regulator, such as a death, an injury or illness needing urgent medical care, a missing child, or a child taken without authority.
What you need
- Stocked first aid kit and each child’s medical action plan
- Incident, injury, trauma and illness record form
- Family and emergency contact details
- The regulator’s serious incident notification form or portal
Procedure
Make the child and the area safe
Go to the child, remove any danger, and stay with them. Ask another educator to take the other children away from the area.
Give first aid
A trained first aider gives first aid and follows the child’s medical action plan if they have one.
Caution: Call emergency services at once if the child has trouble breathing, is unconscious or unresponsive, has a serious injury or bleeding, or is having an allergic reaction, or if you are unsure.
Keep the other children supervised
Check that staffing ratios are still met in every room while educators are with the injured or unwell child. Call in extra staff if needed.
Separate a child who becomes unwell
Move the child to a quiet area away from the other children, with an educator who can see them at all times. Record their symptoms and the time.
- Ask the family to collect the child, and follow your local health guidance on when they can return.
- Clean the area and anything the child used.
Contact the family
Tell the family as soon as possible, and straight away for any head injury, an injury needing medical care, or an illness that means the child must go home. Tell them what happened, what care was given and what happens next.
Complete the incident record
Write the record the same day, before the educator who saw the incident goes home, and within any time limit your regulations set.
- Child’s name, date, time and place.
- What happened, any witnesses, and the injury, illness or trauma signs seen.
- The first aid or care given, and any medication.
- Who was told and when, including the family and emergency services.
- The name and signature of the person writing the record.
Ask the family to acknowledge the record
Show the family the record when they collect the child, and ask them to sign that they have seen it.
Notify serious incidents
The person in charge notifies the regulator of any serious incident within the time your local regulations set, and keeps a copy of the notice.
Caution: Some incidents also have to be reported to the police or child protection services. Follow your child protection procedure.
Support the child after trauma
Reassure the child, keep their routine as normal as possible, and watch for changes in behavior over the following days. Tell the family what you see.
Review the incident
Within a week, the person in charge reviews what happened with the educators involved, fixes any hazard and updates the risk assessment or procedures. Record what was changed.
Records
- The incident, injury, trauma and illness record for each incident, kept for as long as your local regulations require.
- Copies of serious incident notices sent to the regulator.
- Notes of each review and what was changed.
- First aid kit restocking after each use.
Related documents
- Arrival and departure procedure
- Medication administration procedure
- Child protection policy
- Emergency evacuation and lockdown procedure
- Excursion procedure
Revision history
| Version | Date | What changed | Approved by |
|---|---|---|---|
