Guidelines on dealing with Death and Serious Injury

Transcription

1 Great Torrington Junior School TORRINGTON ACADEMIC COUNCIL Guidelines on dealing with Death and Serious Injury Rationale The Torrington Academic Council felt that headteachers needed clear guidelines on the actions, and the order of actions, they should be taking when faced with a serious incident that involves death, or serious injury, to a child, member of staff, parent or governors, either during the school day or outside of it. This follows some local incidents that left particular headteachers feeling vulnerable. Aims To provide clear order of actions for senior managers to take in the immediate aftermath of an incident that involves death or serious injury to a member/members of the school community; To provide quick and appropriate support for those who witness or are involved in incidents that result in death or serious injury, and to those who know or are related to victims; To improve communication between schools, the LEA, support agencies and the local community when news of a serious incident is reported; To quicken up response times by support agencies in the event of such an incident. This document provides:- 1. A grid covering a variety of serious incidents and a numbered list of actions to be taken in chronological order when coping with each type of incident; 2. List of emergency numbers; What this document does not try to do is to provide a sequence of actions that should be taken in the medium and long term. It recognises that each school within the council is unique. They all serve very different sorts of communities, have their own ethos and ways of doing things and have very different accommodation and resources, including human. It would be unwise to suggest how serious incidents should be handled once the immediate actions have been taken.

2 Emergency Procedures Suggested Order of response 1 Residential visit serious accident of a child 3 2/ / Serious accident of a child in school 3 2/6 1 Poss / Residential visit death of a child 3 2/6 1 Poss 4 4 Death of a child in school 3 2/6 1 Poss 4 5 Coach accident 4 2/6 10 3/ /28 Poss / / Major incident in school / Death/serious injury of a child off site (non-school only) 8 Children witnessing death/serious injury out of school IMMEDIATE ACTION / / AFTER THE EVENT POSSIBLE ACTION

3 Possible Contacts/tasks/future course of action. Contact Chair of Governors 1 Inform Area Office/ County Hall (Clearly identified phone numbers/contacts) - EAL Reception: Office hours Mon-Thurs 9.00 a.m p.m Friday 9.00am p.m EAL 24 Hour Emergency Cascade Number Contact Parents (To say there has been a serious accident and pass on information 3 of where that child is) Notify Police/Ambulance (Main Switchboard or 999) 4 Contact Staff (ALL staff - teaching, non-teaching, LSAs, MTAs either to inform or plan response by senior management) 5 Contact Media Team (Press Office) - Possibly done by County Hall 6 Class/school informed 7 Contact Counselling Services Tel: 8 Contact Vicar/Minister/Faith Leader Tel: 9 Establish list of casualties 10 School closure considered 11 Particular class requested not to attend school 12 Contact all (other parents) (to minimise panic) 13 Contact Centre Manager/Teacher in charge to establish if residential goes on 14 Contact Bus Company 15 Contact Educational Psychologist (Tel: 16 Contact School Nurse (Tel: 17 Contact Youth Affairs Officer (Tel: 18 Contact Support Agencies - School to draw up list (Tel: 19 Make a room available for returning party 21 Consult website - Managing Death in the School Community Consider safety of other children/staff 23 If possible alert other staff of danger to keep children 'safe' 24 Consider siblings of children on visit/trip/in school 25 EWO (Tel: 26

4 Bereavement Counsellors Tel: 27 Possible school assembly 28 Notify the British Embassy/Consulate if an emergency occurs abroad 29 Other possible useful contact numbers. Social Services Hospice (Newport) Hospice (Little Bridge House)

5 Emergency Planning for Leaders of School Trips. IMMEDIATE RESPONSE CHECK LIST IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY 1. Seek to remove pupils, staff and visitors from immediate danger 2. Call the emergency services, as required, by dialling Administer first aid to casualties. 4. Make an assessment of the scale and nature of the emergency and call the school on (INSERT SCHOOL TELEPHONE NUMBER) 5. Where the emergency requires additional support from EAL officers or is of a serious nature contact: EAL Reception (Office Hours: 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, Friday 9am to 4.30pm excluding public holidays) EAL 24 hour Emergency Cascade Number (Out of office hours) You will then be transferred to a senior officer within the EAL, 6. Be prepared to pass on the following information: Contact name and phone number of the person in charge Exact name, address and post code of the establishment Location of the emergency if different to the above Alternative phone number including mobile phone, if applicable Type of emergency, what happened, where and when Number of casualties, names of casualties and types of injury Location and details of non-injured parties What action has been taken so far What assistance is required Who else has been informed and what have they been told Any other information you feel would be useful 7. Ensure that all the group are safe and looked after. 8. Ensure that a teacher accompanies casualties to hospital and that the rest of the group are adequately supervised at all times and are kept together. 9. Write down accurately and as soon as possible all relevant facts and witness details and preserve any vital evidence. 10. Keep a written account of all events, times and contacts after the incident. 11. No one in the group should speak to the media. Names of those involved should not be given to the media. All Media enquiries should be passed on to County Hall, Exeter. 12. No-one in the group should discuss legal liability with other parties. On receiving the information from you the school should activate the rest of the establishments Local Emergency Plan.

6 Local Emergency Planning (To be posted by telephone) On receiving information of a serious emergency please refer to the school s emergency procedures. When telephoning the emergency services or County Hall be prepared to pass on the following information: Contact name and phone number of the person in charge Exact name, address, post code and map reference of the establishment Contact name Contact phone number Name of school Address of school Post code Map reference Location of the emergency if different to the above Alternative phone number including mobile phone, if applicable Type of emergency, what happened, where and when Number of casualties, names of casualties and types of injury Location and details of non-injured parties What action has been taken so far What assistance is required Who else has been informed and what have they been told Any other information you feel would be useful Emergency Services EAL Reception (Office Hours: 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, Friday 9am to 4.30pm excluding public holidays) EAL 24 hour Emergency Cascade Number (Out of office hours) You will then be transferred to a senior officer within the EAL,

7 Managing Death within the School Community Although we know that death is a reality, which we all have to face at some time, there is a tendency for us to behave as though it will never actually happen. So that even death through natural causes can be hard for us to know how to manage let alone death in tragic circumstances. An additional layer of difficulty for those of us who work in schools is the death of a child, or of an adult who cares for children. At any one time there will be one or more of our educational institutions managing tragic, as well as natural difficulties, arising out of the death of an adult or pupil belonging to the school community. There are always going to be hundreds of other individuals coping with their own private losses. Some we will know about and some we never will. Some years ago two young people in Exeter schools were murdered. If the death of an elderly grandparent can be put at one end of a level of distress due to natural causes then surely the murder of a young person has to be at the other end. Yet somehow or other, whenever it happens, all deaths have to be coped with. There are no easy ways of doing that but there are some guidelines that can help. For example, thinking situations through before they occur, especially those that may be full of highly charged emotions. If your school does not already have a policy or management plan concerning how all critical incidents are to be managed you may need to consider producing such a document. The following headings might help you focus on death related issues. Identify possible incidents from minor to major situations. Note who would need to be informed in each case with telephone numbers where possible eg chair of governors, parents, LEA, Health Authority, Police etc. Formulate some clear guidelines for: Immediate action. Short-term action. Long-term action. Immediate action may include (your own feelings may initially make you unable to act in the best or wisest way): 1. Safety of those in your care. 2. For any death the need for accurate and appropriate factual information is essential so establish lines of communication as quickly as possible. Rumours and fears spread quickly in a crisis so decide who needs to know what, how and when. 3. Press and media coverage can be complex, intrusive and difficult to manage. The Press Officer at County Hall acts on behalf of the LEA. Contact them immediately and they will assist you on: Inform staff and pupils. Inform governors and parents as appropriate. 4. Stick to a normal routine:

8 As far as possible ensure a normal routine in school. Security in our lives is especially important at times of crises. However, in extreme situations young people and adults may initially need time out space or just time to be together. Only in the most extreme circumstances should the school be closed or pupils sent home. 5. Funerals: Be aware of differing burial rites of different peoples, in some cultures the funeral is within 24 hours of the death. 6. Put into action the already existing support systems in the school. Those who already know and care about each other are best pleased to offer support. Know that talking and crying are natural ways in which human beings manage difficulties. Above all - don t let the impact of any death rob you of your own skills, wisdom, coping strategies or human compassion. It may feel like an utterly different situation from anything that has ever happened to you but whilst it might be much more extreme than any previous experience, you will have life and management experience that will help you through. Short-term: Teachers will find it helpful to: a. Be aware of your own feelings/difficulties relating to the situation. b. Establish, or keep, good communications with the family - if the death is of a child. c. Be prepared to answer questions openly and honestly and use your own experience and feelings appropriately with other pupils. d. Model good practice to adults around you by listening to children and their concerns, not being afraid of letting children voice their worries and continue long-term with awareness of difficulties and implications. e. Communicate specific concerns to parents of children involved. 6. Be aware of community support services. 7. Support each other and don t forget office and all other non-teaching staff. Rituals and memorials: Let as many people as possible have say in the way of marking the death. You may also want to take care in thinking about how to deal with the belongings of the dead person. Some kind of permanent memorial that the parents/community/children plan together can have a very healing effect. Long-term support and planning: Don t expect it all to be over quickly. The grieving process takes a long time.

9 Don t under-estimate the long-term impact on individuals. Think about things you can put in place to assist yourselves in the future. For example: 1. Knowledge about death and bereavement through the curriculum: Healthy thinking about all life events before they happen is one of the best ways to prepare us for those events. Pupils should cover other cultures and religious beliefs and attitudes to death. Expressing feelings, peer support. Families and keeping emotionally and mentally well, should all be part of the PSHE planned curriculum. English, religious education, history science all provide opportunities to consider death in all its complexity. 2. The anniversary of the death: The dead person/people need to have an appropriate place in our memories time changes that place - marking anniversaries helps. Abnormal distress Some people may react to the death in a way that you judge to be beyond the normal. There could be a variety of reasons for this. Parents need to be informed in the case of children. Professional help through educational psychology or the GP or school counsellor may be needed. The book Good Grief by Barbara Ward has a good section on what to look out for. Outside agencies to help: If it is a major crises you will need someone from the LEA to be available to organise the various tasks that need doing - the PSHE adviser might be one of your first points of call Immediate help and longer-term help: 1. Educational psychological service. 2. School nurse - GP - child guidance/family counselling. 3. Youth affairs officer - victim support. 4. Local church groups - other voluntary agencies. 5. Local CRUSE group. Longer-term: 6. Little Bridge House Children s Hospice South West offer individual group or family support Winston s Wish - a grief support agency for children

10 Useful Literature: VERY YOUNG years: Badger s Parting Fits - Susan Varley. The Very Hungry Caterpillar - E Carle. Remembering Mum - G Perkins and L Morris. The 10th Good Thing About Barney - Judith Viorst. MID AGE years: Geranium Morning - E Sandy Powell The Accident - Carol Carrick I ll Always Love You - H Wilhelm years The Charlie Barber Treatment - C Lloyd Gaffer Samson s Luck - Jill Paton Walsh Alex and Alex in Winter - T Doder A Summer to Die - L Lowrey For teachers Loss and Separation - Rob Long and Jenny Bates - Devon Psychological Services Death in the Curriculum - by Rebecca Hursey & S Hawkler (available for loan from Gillian Feest) Good Grief - Barbara Ward. An excellent resource 2 editions one for the under 11s one for the over 11s Helping Children Cope with Grief - Rosemary Wells Living with Grief in School - Anne Chadwick Working with Young People in loss situation - Martins (Longman) The Schools Library Service has a catalogued collection of fiction and non-fiction books on the subject of death and bereavement. The collection will include reference material for teachers in addition to age appropriate books for primary and secondary pupils.