Heartbreaking. What would you have done?

OldDude · May 15, 2017

That's sadder than sad. Otherwise, I don't know what to say other than pray for God's grace and peace for that parent.

NutmeggeRN, BSN · May 15, 2017

The whole thing is just horrible, the tape as I understand, was not viewed until well after the incident. So maybe the admin did not cover up the initial injury, they may not have been aware. If they covered it up after the tape was viewed and released, that is a WHOLE other story.

What about the kids who kicked and assaulted him?? Why is the attention NOT on them??

Flare, ASN, BSN · May 15, 2017

So i did watch the 8 minute hallway footage - obviously I wasn't there. I can't attest for anything other than a soundless 8 minute video. It's mostly footage of the child lying still which can lead to a number of questions about his condition beyond the wall that you can't see.

So here are some ramblings from a salty old school nurse:

The man in the suit and the rest of the people that respond to him before the nurse do makes me tells me that they (meaning those individuals) are not prepared in emergency situation. Suit man moved the trash but didn't really bend down to check on the child. Another lady came to help - but all the while other children where permitted to use the bathroom.

If I were a betting woman, I'd say that the nurse called the parent to say that there was some type of incident. I can't say what type of state the child was in for the majority of those 8 minutes. But if it were me in that situation, i'd want to call a parent right away and say get him checked out. Especially if mom's description of busted lip and hurt nose was on point. Now, I don't know about any of you - but i don't give a whole lot of details about the incident to a parent other than the injuries and basic nuts and bolts type of stuff. As far as the who and the where and the why? That's above my paygrade and those questions need to be directed to the suits - not the scrubs.

My final thought is this - an eight year old child took his life in a very violent, planned out means. I hardly think that this one incident of getting beaten up in the bathroom was the igniting factor in his decision in this for him to do this 2 days later. I think there is much more to learn about this story. The video was an interesting perspective, but i think it only paints part of his very very tragic story.

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · May 15, 2017

Flare, agreed if it were me, I'd be advising parents to get student checked out ASAP. Especially if there was a loss of consciousness and evidence of facial trauma. An ER visit may have helped pick up on this child's state of mind, but we'll never know.

I responded to this (there is a thread about it in the general nurse forum as well), and do feel like something is missing from this story. I'm wondering how I would follow up if I suspected injury from an assault if my admin didn't back me up on it. I know that would never happen at my school, thankfully.

I feel so deeply for this family. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for kids aged 10-14 according to the CDC; 8 is after the age of reasoning, but still it is a shock. That child must have been hurting so much.

Jolie, BSN · May 15, 2017

I haven't, and will not watch the video. Can't bring myself to do it. But I have a few questions:

What was the nurse told about the boy when he was brought to her office? Did she know that he had been apparently unresponsive for 8 minutes? I doubt it. Fainting is one thing. We have all witnessed brief fainting spells and have advised parents to simply keep an eye on those children. That's very different than 8 minutes of unresponsiveness for unknown reasons, which would warrant an EMS call. I doubt that the nurse was given the information needed to accurately assess the child and properly advise his mother.

Secondly, how does the principal reconcile the video to the initial information shared by the school that the child fainted? Does anyone believe that the video wasn't seen for days afterward? I don't. There is no reason to have video security if it is not viewed and saved when an incident occurs. Any capable administrator knows where security cameras are located in a school, and which recordings to pull when an incident occurs. I believe it was viewed ASAP after the incident and the principal began spinning a story he thought would suffice to clear administration of responsibility. How inconvenient that someone alerted the mother to the existence of the security footage.

My prayers for that child and family.

SnugglePuggle, MSN, RN · May 15, 2017

I haven't, and will not watch the video. Can't bring myself to do it. But I have a few questions:
What was the nurse told about the boy when he was brought to her office? Did she know that he had been apparently unresponsive for 8 minutes? I doubt it. Fainting is one thing. We have all witnessed brief fainting spells and have advised parents to simply keep an eye on those children. That's very different than 8 minutes of unresponsiveness for unknown reasons, which would warrant an EMS call. I doubt that the nurse was given the information needed to accurately assess the child and properly advise his mother.
Secondly, how does the principal reconcile the video to the initial information shared by the school that the child fainted? Does anyone believe that the video wasn't seen for days afterward? I don't. There is no reason to have video security if it is not viewed and saved when an incident occurs. Any capable administrator knows where security cameras are located in a school, and which recordings to pull when an incident occurs. I believe it was viewed ASAP after the incident and the principal began spinning a story he thought would suffice to clear administration of responsibility. How inconvenient that someone alerted the mother to the existence of the security footage.
My prayers for that child and family.

Looking at the video, I believe that the nurse was called to the scene. (she looks to be wearing red scrub pants). I don't believe that she knew that the boy was down for so long and who knows what she was told by administration. I agree that administration likely viewed the video immediately. As the nurse I would have liked to see the video or privy to whatever information it may provide. While is difficult to tell what exactly happened in the video, the duration of LOC is indisputable and warrants an ER visit if not EMS. I am confident that my administration would have shared such important information (at least I hope) but do know that not all administrators would be so forthcoming.

It is interesting to note that this is an inner city school who reported ZERO incidents of bullying this year. As I watch children poke and casually walk by this child, I find it hard to believe. Heck, I have kids sprint across my school building in record time if another student gets so much as a hangnail. I am dumbfounded that it took almost 8 minutes for help to be summoned.

I agree with Flare, there was likely much more going on in this boy's life to fuel his decision to take his own life. That being said I feel that if the parent and ER staff would have known what had happened, he may have received the emotional support he needed at that moment.