Currently I take my 9.5 month-old daughter to an in-home daycare provider in my neighborhood. She watches my daughter, one other baby, and her own two children. The lady who takes care of her is fantastic, and she has a wonderful relationship with both my daughter and me.
Recently, my daughter outgrew her infant car seat, which I used to leave at her house when I dropped off my baby. But now we moved her to a convertible seat that stays in my car. My concern is that with no car seat and with 4 children, there is no way for her to transport all the children in case of an emergency. And that made me starting thinking about what my expectations should be in the case of an emergency where my child had to be rushed to a hospital.
For those of you who are daycare providers, do you have an emergency plan? If there was an emergency where a child had to be rushed to the hospital, would you bring all the children or do you just send the child off in the ambulance?
For the parents out there, what are you expectations of your daycare providers?
I'm hoping for some experience and advice before I begin the discussion with my own provider, because this is a topic neither of us have much experience with. And I want to make sure I'm realistic in my requests.
I am a childcare provider and I have backup car seats of every kind in case of an emergency. I care for a small group of between 3 & 4 children. If I had to get a child to the ER I would bring all of the children with me, after first calling parents to let them know what was happening.
C.,
I would ask her straight forward in a very nice way,
you were thinking about this situation.
In a real emergency you would always call an ambulance,
in a not so urgent emergency,ask what her plans are,if she doesn't have a back up plan,maybe you both can come up with something.But why can't you get another convertable car seat or her for the car?
Good luck,
all daycares should have emergency plans! In case a child needed transportation to a hospital I would call the ambulance to take the child and call the family to meet the ambulance at the hospital. I would try to get my husband or neighbor to stay with the other kids, or take them with in the ambulance or last resort (would depend on the group) I would just have to have the child go by them self to the hospital while I called the parents of the other children to come get their kids so I could go to the hospital. But seriously me being at the hospital isn't a necessity if it's a hospital worthy issue. I would just be in the way.
We also have to have plans for fires, tornadoes and evacuations. My plan is in an evacuation to join the local grade school. I talked with the principal and she said I could get on their busses if need be and they would help me care for the kids too.
If you are really worried you can ask your provider what she would do if she ever had to transport. Maybe you could invest in a cheaper carseat for her to have as a back up at her house. But in my 8 1/2 yrs of doing home daycare I have never NEEDED a car seat nor needed to transport a child to the hospital. So, honestly I would just mellow out and not worry about it. It is worth a talk to see what her plans would be though.
N.
hi C.,
This is a very good subject and something you should not hesitate to talk over with your day care provider. She will have plans in place if she is experienced and if not - hopefully your questions might prompt her to have something in place.
Something others might not have thought of... most day care providers have young children of their own - so even if they would call an ambulance for children in their care, there is always the chance they might need to take their own child for medical treatment at last-minute or pick them up from school if they are suddenly sick etc.
An experienced daycare provider will have either a plan for transporting (like backup car seats) and contact you right away OR a backup person - a neighbor or relative who is around during the day who can come over and stand-in for her in this situation.
Thanks for bringing up such a good topic.
W.
My children are cared for in my home. But regardless of where they are, there can always be an emergency. In a life threatening one, an ambulance would be called. I have a letter available to her with a copy of our insurance card and our phone #s as well as an additional contact phone just in case. The letter gives authority to provide care needed in an emergency until I or my husband can get there. I update it every month so it won't be refused due to the date. It mainly states the caregivers name, the children's name, the insurance name and info, and that I give authority to provide care when needed in an emergnecy then lists all the contact info. Hope this helps.
C.,
I am new at the whole daycare thing, but when it comes to carseats I either find cheap/safe ones at garage sales or I ask the parent to leave one with me.
You never know when one might come in handy, so I would bring it up with her. She might even have one that you aren't aware of.
If such an occurance were to happen, I would pack up the remaining and possibly the sick/injured child and drive to the hospital. If the ambulance needed to be called I would most likely meet the child at the hospital with the other children. That way if the parents of the other children can't come right away I still have transportation for them. Also I have transportation back home once the family of the sick/injured child shows up at the hospital.
Sending the child alone in the ambulance isn't the best option out there by any means, but unless that's the only child you're watching at the time there aren't a lot of other options. But regardless of how I went there I would get back to the child asap.
Every daycare has different methods, but the bottom line is whether or not your child will be taken care of. She may have too many kids to 'transport' which means she needs to have a backup person so she can ride in the ambulance etc. I only care for up to 3 kids, so regardless of what happened, all the kids would be taken care of.
K.
Hi C.,
I think this question should apply to all adults that ever have children in their homes, not just daycare providers. Personally I have always had extra seats at my home. It is also important to remember that if you open the lines of communication with your provider he or she will know what you are most comfortable with for your childs needs.
Do you want to come and get the child (miner or maybe just stitches or broken bone) or do you want to meet an ambulance at the hospital? Ambulance, to me, means "Oh my it is huge!" however, "Your child if OK but if you could meet me at the hospital to double check the injury" is a little less fightening. If you go the route of transporting children from your daycare home remember that these carseats are tax-deductable becuase they are used for your business, just keep your receipt.
You said you have a great relationship with your provider so I'm sure she will have no problems discussing her plan, just bring it up as you would anything else! Good Luck!
In a true emergency you would not be transporting the children to the hospital you would be calling an ambulance. When I started family daycare almost 19 years ago I did not even have a drivers license. It was always understood that in emergency I would call an ambulance, it still the same today even though I do drive now. If it does not require an emergency room visit then I would call the parents and have them take their child to the doctor. This has only happened once when a child bumped her head and I thought it would be good to have a doctor look at her to be sure she did not need stitches. In the end she did not need stitches but better safe than sorry. If I do need to go to the emergency room, I have my husband, daughters (17 and 18 year old) or neighbors who would watch the other children. I would instruct them to call all the parents and inform them there has been an emergency and they would need to pick up their child asap. I would do everything I could in my power not to send a child off by themselves in an ambulance.
