What is the law on this....

litbitblack, ASN, RN · Oct 20, 2008

Ummm its state required here in texas to report anything that is child abuse, neglect ect. Just the simple act of being human I would think that leaving a child in a car buckled in would be a fone call to the cops. They should and have arrested the person leaving them there. I know here a grandmother left her grand child in the car and they arrested her as soon as she came out to her car.

Scooter5 · Oct 20, 2008

Here in NY, a nurse is one of the professions that are considered "Mandated Reporters". That means if you see something that may be abuse or neglect you MUST report it. Otherwise, if it is learned you didn't, you could be held liable. Even if you were not a nurse and you witnessed something like you described, you should at least write the plate number down and immediately contact law enforcement. All law enforcement are mandated reporters, and they can call Child Protective Services after the arrest the mother!

short1978 · Oct 20, 2008

Thanks. I did call the cops and am glad I did. Esp w/ her reaction....she lied and said she ran in and was only gone a minute. I was on the phone w/ the police for over 6 mins so that blows that lie out the water. I for a second debated on whether to call as I watched her go in and then saw she was smelling flowers and trying to pick some...I questioned if I really saw a child in the car so i went back out w/ my child and sat on the bench beside the car and sure enough there were 2 in there, strapped in and both under the age of 2....car running with the window down....I would have loved to have gotten in and moved the car just to let her freak out.

I called my husband and told him and he agreed for me to call....I called and 14 minutes after she walked in she walked out and then lied about how long she was gone. The cop looked at me and I said technically she was gone for 14 minutes as I had phone logs from calling my husband and the police too. She freaked out screaming and calling me a lier and to mind my own business.

What she doesnt know is the last thing I wanted was for something to happen to the KIDS and that is why I came back out....to watch the kids .... not to delibertally get her in "trouble" ...but she should have thought about that the 14 minutes she was shopping, as she came out with a thing of flowers and a shopping bag that clearly had a few items in it.

I have 2 kids, and am preg w/ my 3rd and how can she think this is SAFE? I just dont know.

anyway, I just passed my boards so I wasnt sure what my legal responsibility is in this matter anyway. But I would have called regardless.

We are in WA state....anyone know for sure????

short1978 · Oct 20, 2008

2 police showed up in one car and when I came out the store there were 6 police total there.....btw, this was on a military base......and just so noone thinks base is a SAFE place for people to do stupid things....there are registered sex offenders that work and live on this base, as well as others.....we just moved from another state and there were almost 10 on that base not including the ones that simply worked on base....these 10 actually "lived" on base.

justme1972 · Oct 20, 2008

What are a RN's legal responsibilities for reporting things like abuse, child endangerment, etc? Like if you see someone leave their 2 very little kids in the car with the car running and the window down and going in a store for like 15 minutes? Not even like 30 seconds, but 15 minutes. Ages around 10 mths and 1.5 yrs old, and they were awake and strapped in their seats.

A store, with the vehicle running and the windows down? Heck yes I would call.

However, I have been guilty on the rare occasion that I have had no choice but to stop at a pay-inside gas station...left my twins in the car...however, I pull to the front of the store, peek inside to make sure there is NO wait. I lock the doors and take the keys with me and make sure one eye is on the car the entire time.

2 minutes tops....if that.

No way am I taking twins out of a vehicle in the rain or snow for a 2 minute issue.

However, if she is going into a grocery store, etc especially like that, where you cannot see the children and the windows are wide open for anyone to just reach in and snatch the children...heck no!

short1978 · Oct 20, 2008

Yeah gas w/ doors locked car in front one thing....you cant see from the store...it is a shopping facility where you go in and there is a hall and lots of little stores....there is NO way she can see from inside. And like I said, I went in behind her, back out, cked in the car, saw the kids, sat on the bench beside the car, wrote down the tag number, then called my husband for advice/as well as the base cops number....so you are talking 4-5 minutes total already.....this is not a quick trip in already....then on the phone with the cop for 6 more minutes, according to my phone timer when I hung up.....plus the time she took to get out the car and in the store before I came in behind her and saw her "sniffing flowers" and I am not exaggerating.

Vito Andolini · Oct 20, 2008

This is outrageous behavior. The woman either does not value her children or she is really ignorant of the ways of the world or she is a druggie or so stressed that she is not thinking straight.

You did the right thing to protect the children. I know part of you feels badly but you did the best thing for the children, IMO. As for legalities, check the Washington state website.

Dinsey · Oct 20, 2008

I've never even left my golden retriever in a car.

You did the right thing. Every summer, there are stories of people who "forgot" their kids in the car, or left them "just for a minute" and come back to find the child dead or gravely ill. What she did was unacceptable, regardless of the reason.

Dolce, RN · Oct 20, 2008

Wow, that is very outrageous behavior. You did the right thing to keep an eye on the car and to report her. What did the police do?

short1978 · Oct 20, 2008

Thx for all the reinforcement. It def maks me feel better knowing I am not the only one that saw something wrong with this picture. BTW, I looked it up on the internet and WA does participate in the Mandated Reports for RNs.

Dolce, I am not exactly sure what the final outcome was. I can tell you that my husband left the house around 6pm to drop off muffins to a coworker's house who came hm from the hospital today after having a baby, and he passed the car with her in it pulling into housing on base.....I had told him what the car looked like plus the fact that she had a crib mattress in the passengers seat so it was obvious it was her. He couldnt tell if there were kids in the corificeats in the back but said she made eye contact with him at the stop sign and she looked "rough" according to him. He said it looked like she had been crying a lot.

I know that means she was with the police on base for over an hour. I got there and called my husband at about 445 and then went in the store, came out and there were now 6 there instead of the initial 2 police, went home and filled my husband in, posted this thread, and then he left. So over an hour.

Sometimes they post things in the base paper when people get in trouble like drinking and driving, or different offenses on base so I will keep my eye out to see if it is posted.

My husband seems to think that it will be reported to the base family services as well as her husband's first sgt, that is if SHE herself isnt active duty. Which if she is he thinks she would be in even more trouble.

I would love to know though.

I am not sure if they will contact me for more information or not. They got my home address, hm phone and cell phone while I was on the phone with them. My husband also said they will likely pull the survillence tapes to time stamp when she went in and came out, etc. It is likely she will get in "more" trouble than she possibly would have since she lied about how long she was in there.

I know for sure she was in there at least 14 mins based on my cell phone log, and she swore it was 1 minute. :banghead:

I just have to keep telling myself that I did what was right for the children and the heck with her. Had she come out w/in even 4 minutes I would have still been talking to my husband getting the phone number to call and maybe things could have been different, but she clearly didnt care that they were in there.

Of course I would have loved to have just got in the car and drove it around back to see her reaction!!!!

I just couldnt have lived with myself if something had happened to them. Plus it ticks me off that I saw 3-4 people walk by the car, look in, make a funny face, but keep walking.....what is wrong with people....they just dont wanna get involved or WHAT? :banghead:

Dolce, RN · Oct 20, 2008

I found a child at a rodeo one time. I think she was about 7 or 8 and she was completely and frantically lost from her parents. It was a pretty big crowd and she was quite distressed. I asked her where her family was and stayed with her until we found them. They weren't even looking for her. She spotted them first and the look on their faces made me sick. They were completely unfazed and unworried. Do people not realize that child abductions are a reality?