I am a security officer in a middle school. When we have an emergency and it is known that the student has a condition, our nurse uses this info to make an informed decision about how to handle situation.
The nurse did not know that the student had a problem with fainting before and was not privy to the diagnosis of the last time it happened(thought to be a drop in blood sugar). I have been in the nurses office during an emergency and the nurse asks the student about where her parents are right then. This helps the nurse know the current situation in real time. The students know better than any health card what is what at that specific time, on that specific day.
Actually, the nurse took care of her the last time she fainted also. She called me, I picked her up. I will give her the benefit of the doubt though, as she has many students to tend to & can't remember everything for each student. I don't remember if I wrote on her medical form about her fainting in the past. If I did not, it's my own fault & something I will change.
I realize that the nurse called the aunt and I don't know this for a fact but the nurse could have asked the girls who the nearest relative was at that specific time. When the nurse contacted the aunt and she was not coming to get her right away, from what I gather she wasn't running out the door to pick up the student, the nurse called the ambulance.
The nurse called my sister & then my sister called me to tell me what was going on. My sister said the school nurse told her that my DD was fine but could she (my sister) come pick her up. It didn't seem urgent from the message which was relayed to me. I told my sister not to rush & that I would call my neighbor to pick up DD as she was closer & my sister would have to leave her 2nd grade classroom - forcing the principal to find a sub for her. The nurse was not waiting for a call back from her.
While waiting for the ambulance, I would believe the nurse was attending to the student and monitoring her condition.
The OP said it was around 40 min from the time the student passed out to the time the OP called and talked to the nurse. Has anyone had to wait for an ambulance lately? It takes at least 10 min for one to respond to a call. 15-25 arrival time if it is not a busy day.
Say it took 10 min to get the student to the nurse and tell her what happened and asses the situation.
Then another 10 min to get the sister and discuss the parents are out of town and aunt is the person to call. That is already 20 min past.
The nurse calls the aunt and the aunt, I am assuming says " let me call her mother to find out what she wants to do. The nurse waits another 5-10 min for a call back and doesn't receive one and decides to call an ambulance instead of waiting for a call back from the aunt. That is 25-30 min past now.
The nurse wasn't waiting for a call from my sister, only waiting for my sister to pick DD up.
The nurse waits for the ambulance say 10- 15 min. The student is sent off in the ambulance. That is around 35-45 min past time of indecent. Give or take a few min here or there for the OP's margin of error, approximate time around 40 min. She calls gets someone else on the phone and then has to call back and gets the nurse.
Where is the time the nurse has to go to the files, pick up the numbers and call the parents.
I understand that the OP feels she should have called her first. I also understand the thinking of this nurse and commend her for using all available info at hand, first hand conversations with the 17 year old daughters. And the fact that the parents were out of town and the aunt was the closest person the DD thought of.
Definitely agree that this could have been the scenario (with the exception of waiting for a call back from my sister).
One thing I am not sure of is where was the 20 year old daughter? Is this the person the OP left in charge? (not questioning the parenting skills of OP just wondering who was watching them for those few days) Was the aunt in charge? There is just a lot of variables involved in the decisions made in this situation.
My 20 year old DD was in classes at college. Funny thing is, while I was talking to my sister, this DD called me. I didn't flip over in time, missed the call & called her back, assuming she was calling about "fainting DD". I got her voice mail but then received a text asking me why I was calling her during class. Seemed that her phone "butt dialed" me at the same time I was on the phone with my sister & I was thinking she was calling me after receiving a call from the school. Just ironic.
While my girls were pretty much on their own while we were gone, my neighbor was keeping an eye on them (the one that I called to pick up DD).
The OP should have informed the school of the condition the student had or the past situations.
You're right & I will update her medical form if I have failed to provide this information.
Why did the OP not immediately call the school to find out what was wrong sooner than 40 min after. (again not judging just bringing up valid points) I say this because when the aunt called the mother instead of calling the neighbor or FIL she could have called directly to the school and got first hand info on the situation.
I just checked my phone - my sister called me at 10:08 my first phone call to the school was at 10:14, so it was actually only 6 minutes from the time I received the first phone call. (sure seemed like longer than that!) During those 6 minutes, I was trying to contact & also was receiving incoming calls from my neighbor, oldest DD, twin DD & getting a return call to my sister to update her on whether she had to pick up DD.
While confirming that my neighbor could pick up DD, my DH received a call from his mom saying she received a call from twin DD & fainting DD was going to hospital.
I will however say that the emergency cards should have been up to date and that would be my main concern in this situation, as well as updating the school on the DD's condition.
Lastly, Remember the faculty and staff of a school, Nurses, teachers, security, and even the custodians, all have the responsibility of keeping your children safe and healthy when they are in our care. And, although it may seem that at times we overreact or "panic" as the OP described. Put yourself in our shoes and think of being responsible for a few neighborhood kids while they are at your house. I am sure, in an emergency, you would do your best to handle the situation in the best interest of that child. You may handle it differently than others think you should but in the end, the child will still be safe and sound at home or at Disney World in this case.
I would however like to thank the OP for not turning something small into a case of national security. I think the OP is handling this well and my post was just to throw some food for thought into this big group of posts from a prospective of a person who is involved in emergency situations at school levels and sees the other side of the coin that parents aren't able to see.
I am glad your daughter is doing well and hope all works out with the doctor. Please make sure the school takes care of the emergency info. That is so important and obviously was not taken care of properly by the system.
Since the OP was out of town, there wasn't much she could do anyway.
