School nurses, what is the worst emergency you've had?

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Just had the worst one I've had since I've been here. Kids got into a fight, hit cement, kept hitting him while on the ground... Pinpoint pupils, in and out of consciousness, bleeding... so a head injury.

Got flown to a different hospital.

I'm shook up to be honest. I always feel like I am not doing enough.

Do you guys have any extra training for emergencies like such?

Specializes in school nursing/ maternal/child hospital based.
19 hours ago, Avill said:

I looked for it but didn't find it?

HMM. I posted it on Feb 14, 2017

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

i've given a lot of diastat because of epileptic students i had who had seizures that were hard to control. I have only had to give an Epipen once which was stressful because the student was anxious and the thought of having to get an injection was sending him into panic so he proceeded to run from me and argue with me... meanwhile his face was swelling, his lips were getting fatter and fatter... i ended up grabbing his leg when he sat for a moment and practically forcing him.

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Specializes in kids.
On 10/24/2019 at 11:13 AM, Avill said:

Why?! Because he was an athlete?

No he had an AAU torunamanent to play in....

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I wasn’t there when it happened, but a school I was subbing at had a chest-high (to an adult) oldtimey wrought iron fence between the school yard and the adjacent property.

Ball got kicked over the fence, and kiddo decided to climb over the fence to get it. (Yes, that was forbidden).

His foot slipped and his abdomen was impaled on one of the spikes.

Luckily it wasn’t too deep. He survived.

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Remember, none of these kids' behaviors are your fault. There are lots of psych issues in schools. You can only do your best to take care of your students. 911 is there for a reason. You have to protect yourself too, both physically and emotionally.

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Specializes in School nursing.

For me, just an epipen. But it was one of those Epipen-needed-right-now moments for a student with no known allergies. Only time I've seen stridor in the several times I've given Epi. I had *finally* gotten stock Epi 2 months prior. Never had I ever had a better argument for it after this incident.

I have also had a few severe asthma attacks and two very severe abdominal pain (like down and could get up) but that Epipen was the scariest experience for me.

Kid was okay thankfully - but dad was on site (I had called him because this started as a simple localized rash) and didn't speak a word of English and I'm calling for a Spanish speaking colleague while calling 911 and trying to tell Dad, no your child isn't able to just go in your car home right now. Turns out allergy was to red dye in Halloween candy - why my least favorite days as a school nurse are Oct 31st and November 1st - both coming up this week...

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X-acto knife wrist cut. Accidental but, per students who witnessed it, child was using the knife inappropriately/in an unsafe manner. Kiddo was fine thanks to the teacher using her first aid training, and I got to take my first ambulance ride!

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Specializes in ED, School Nurse.

I had a student put another student in a choke hold and then let go. The student in the choke hold lost consciousness and hit their head twice on the way to the floor: once of the table, once off the chair. Student was in and out of consciousness, had vomited all over himself and the floor and table. Face was so swollen from the injuries sustained while falling to the floor that I couldn't tell who he was.

I called mom to check on him as he was being Lifeflighted from our local hospital to a higher level of care. He was diagnosed with a concussion and was back in school within 2 weeks.

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Specializes in pediatrics, school nursing.
50 minutes ago, ohiobobcat said:

I had a student put another student in a choke hold and then let go. The student in the choke hold lost consciousness and hit their head twice on the way to the floor: once of the table, once off the chair. Student was in and out of consciousness, had vomited all over himself and the floor and table. Face was so swollen from the injuries sustained while falling to the floor that I couldn't tell who he was.

I called mom to check on him as he was being Lifeflighted from our local hospital to a higher level of care. He was diagnosed with a concussion and was back in school within 2 weeks.

This almost exact scenario happened in my high school when I was a senior. Football players, in the locker room. The sophomore did some muttering under his breath about something the senior did on the field. Senior lost it, put the kid in a chokehold, let go, kid hit the locker room bench, and then the concrete floor. Was in and out of consciousness for several days in the hospital, spent a total of 2 weeks in ICU.

The senior was eventually expelled. But not before purposefully flipping his truck (WITH OTHER KIDS IN IT) so daddy would buy him a new one (another kids was bigger than his).

This same guy was drag racing with a classmate and his girlfriend while high on coke and the two vehicles crashed and the girl ended up paraplegic.

Oh, and in 6th grade, this same boy kicked me as hard as he could in the ribs because I was being "disrespectful" by sitting down in the state house on a field trip.

Upstanding citizen, he is...

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Specializes in ED, School Nurse.
26 minutes ago, k1p1ssk said:

This almost exact scenario happened in my high school when I was a senior. Football players, in the locker room. The sophomore did some muttering under his breath about something the senior did on the field. Senior lost it, put the kid in a chokehold, let go, kid hit the locker room bench, and then the concrete floor. Was in and out of consciousness for several days in the hospital, spent a total of 2 weeks in ICU.

The senior was eventually expelled. But not before purposefully flipping his truck (WITH OTHER KIDS IN IT) so daddy would buy him a new one (another kids was bigger than his).

This same guy was drag racing with a classmate and his girlfriend while high on coke and the two vehicles crashed and the girl ended up paraplegic.

Oh, and in 6th grade, this same boy kicked me as hard as he could in the ribs because I was being "disrespectful" by sitting down in the state house on a field trip.

Upstanding citizen, he is...

My goodness!! Is he in jail yet? If not, shall we place bets on when that will happen?

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
6 hours ago, JenTheSchoolRN said:

Turns out allergy was to red dye in Halloween candy - why my least favorite days as a school nurse are Oct 31st and November 1st - both coming up this week...

Jen, you have always been my idol.... And I just realized that we have in-service on Friday (11/1) - someone in the district heard our prayers.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

About 13 or 14 years ago, I had a kid OD in front of the school. I came so incredibly close to having to initiate CPR on this kid infront of my administrators, some teachers, and students that wouldn't go inside. I was terrified inside, but so grateful that I was able to break apnic episodes with sternal rubs. The kid survived, and that was the defining moment of what it meant to be a school nurse was for me. That was when I realized that I was it, the only medical professional in the building. I sat in my office in a daze. It was definitely the scariest experience I've had.

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