Consent to Medical Treatment

[Eenee]

......

[Rouge]

I would rather sign the consent form to ensure that my child gets the care needed than ponder over words. It's actually in most cases a legal thing with limitations set by the state regardless of wording on a form. And they aren't just permitted to authorise a blood transfusion or something... But immediate medical care that is completely necessary ie. basic first aid or calling an ambulance is pretty much all they are allowed to do. Or provide medications you have supplied them with. In our case we had asthma and allergies. So ventolin and antihistamine were administered by the teachers.

[Floweryfields]

Deleted as original poster deleted their post that I quoted.

[HotI]

LS, I started to respond to your first post, but then couldn't explain myself. I don't quite understand what the difference is. The wording is seek transportation and seek treatment - if seeking transportation means that the child can be transported, how does seek treatment not mean that the child can be treated?

[Doing my best]

I was quoting a now deleted post, but I wasn't being offensive, but rather asking a genuine question as to what treatments you think they will seek? It has never crossed my mind that someone in a position of authority we have entrusted to care for children would go and do something against our wishes that would warrant me not feeling comfortable to sign a form stating they can seek medical treatments. But I must be either very trusting, or very naive to the real world if there are reasons people are hesitant to sign these forms.

[LimeSlice]

Because there is not a doctor on site - they need permission to CALL for help. You are acknowledging that the qualified carer in the room is not a medical professional and not in a position to decide for him/herself the correct measures to take. You are removing the burden from them and the centre, and allowing them to call for competent medical advice and attention.

Seeking transportation simply means that you authorise them to take your child from the centre - not with one of your approved contacts - and also covers the cost of the ambulance transfer if one is called.

Once your child gets to the hospital, there is an entirely different set of rules covering how the doctors are allowed to behave - they need permission to perform most medical procedures on a minor, except in emergency situations, but even then they will need your consent in some cases. If you are not available, there are guidelines in place that allow the doctors to override your absence of consent. This has nothing to do with the centre, or its staff.

So, as pedantic as it sounds, there is an actual difference in effect once the word 'seek' is added to the sentence. Seeking treatment defers the responsibility of the medical decisions to those who are capable of making them - you and health care professionals.

[Jaycee]

Why wouldn't you want medical treatment for your child in case of emergency?

I don't think this is a subject to get hung up on legalities and the way something is worded.

[LimeSlice]

Should point out that those rules governing the treatment of minors are the same whether in the child care injury scenario here, or in a road traffic accident, or any other incidence where your child would be in the care of emergency physicians and you are are absent or incapacitated and incapable of giving consent for medical treatment.

So I think the core issue of your concern is more than valid - what are medical professionals allowed and not allowed to do to your child without your informed consent? However, in this particular instance, this is not the purview of the form you are being asked to sign.

[HotI]

It's a legal statement that they are asking parents to sign. I think parents should read the statement and see if they agree before signing it.

DMB - one thing that comes to mind is vaccinations, or other government health programs. If these are considered medical treatments by the medical provider that is consulted by the educator, then these could be theoretically covered by the statement.

[LimeSlice]

DMB - one thing that comes to mind is vaccinations, or other government health programs. If these are considered medical treatments by the medical provider that is consulted by the educator, then these could be theoretically covered by the statement.

Certainly, administering a tetanus vaccination in the case of many injuries would be highly probable by a treating physician. However, they would need your permission for this as far as I am aware, and the centre have access to your immunisation records.
I think it is a valid concern you have, but not one your centre can answer for you, nor one for which they are responsible. Perhaps it is worth contacting the AMA and asking for emergency treatment of minors guidelines or pertinent legislation?

[Chocaholic]

My sister was rushed to hospital due to an accident at school back in the early nineties. She landed on her head during PE and was unable to feel below her chest.

The school contacted an ambulance as they had the permission form signed. They were unable to contact my parents so the principal went to the hospital with her. Upon reaching the hospital, he was unable to make any decisions about her welfare but was able to answer questions about age and allergies etc due to her enrolment forms that he had with him. The hospital followed their protocol for treating an untended minor.

Basically the form is to give permission to call for an ambulance and allow the child to go offsite with a person who is not on the authorised collection list. It also means you get the bill, not the daycare centre.

It is a requirement for all daycares and schools. If you don't sign, the liability for daycare or school may be such that they will not accept your enrolment.

[AnyDream]

It's helpful to remember that "treatment" includes basics like administering oxygen & performing resuscitation, which is something that might need to be done before a parent can be present or even before the transport begins (ie done on site by the ambos prior to leaving for hospital). So it's pretty important to have both treatment and transport stipulated because in a real emergency, you want to make sure you can get whatever help needs to be got, and quickly.

ETA - In the case of vaccinations, it's helpful to remember that there are legal limits on what medical treatments doctors can provide without parent/guardian consent. My understanding is it's limited to actions of an emergency nature. I cannot imagine that any doctor would be able to justify administering vaccination as an immediate, life-preserving action. You could get them struck off for that kind of conduct.

[HotI]

LS, So, you don't think signing the statement would impact on any of the things that i am concerned about? That those issues would be covered by medical practitioner/hospital procedures legal guidelines and not by the kinder forms.

MD, but that treatment by the ambulance would not be covered by this form. It would be covered under the ambulance rights to perform life saving treatment.

[LimeSlice]

So, you don't think signing the statement would impact on any of the things that i am concerned about? That those issues would be covered by medical practitioner/hospital procedures legal guidelines and not by the kinder forms.

Correct.

The form means they don't carry any of that responsibility - it belongs with the medical professionals - who act within their own framework - and you.

[AnyDream]

MD, but that treatment by the ambulance would not be covered by this form. It would be covered under the ambulance rights to perform life saving treatment.

Yeah, but that's no good to you if the childcare centre doesn't have your consent to dial 000 and request an ambulance to attend/assess/treat/transport your kid. Which is what the consent form is for.

[glenny_c]

Wow. I am honestly surprised that anyone would have an issue with this form. Not judging, just never occurred to me that anyone would hesitate to sign it. As a teacher,obviously we can't knock back enrollments but I would expect that any child who had not had permission like this signed would probably not be allowed to attend excursions, camps or possibly even school sport. I would think that anyone you were willing to leave your children with you would want to have the ability to seek life saving treatments. I'm sorry but I just don't understand.

[Miss.September]

I think you need to go beyond the form if this is worrying you. Find out what it actually covers. List the things that you specifically don't want and ask the kinder if these things are treated or are part of the treatment if you sign the form.

What I would expect on signing the form would be in case of serious injury, I'm allowing them to treat DD1 in a way that makes her as stable/safe/comfortable as they can with the limited first aid resources they have. I'd expect a phone call and the ambulance called (if required). I would expect that once an ambulance is on scene (if it arrives before me which I would highly doubt), the kinder form would become void anyway as the paramedics have their own duty of care which would probably override kinder. I imagine the kinder staff would go along with the paramedic recommendations. I wouldn't think there would ever be a reason to treat for sickness at this level. Let's face it, kids don't get THAT sick during a five hour kinder session and if they were sick, they'd probably be at home anyway.

[little_O]

My parents were particular about treatments they wanted us to receive/not receive etc.

They always signed the form saying a carer could call the ambulance, seek medical treatment etc, but she also attached a medical directive to our enrollment paperwork for the school's record and for any medical practitioners. That way, if for some reason they couldn't reach a parent, their wishes were still outlined.

Might be worth thinking about?