If your child is injured at preschool or daycare, make sure the incident is documented and that you receive a copy of the incident report
My niece was recently involved in an accident at her preschool in which she lost part of a tooth and I was shocked to discover that my sister did not receive or sign an incident report. So in the interest of preschool teachers, daycare providers, and parents, I would like to quickly discuss the necessity of incident reports.
A quality preschool or daycare should have in their health and safety rules and regulations, policies about accidents/injuries. I would like to stress two important policies that you should look for in your preschool or daycare:
- If a child is injured at preschool or daycare and the situation necessitates that the child receive medical attention, the parent must be notified and asked to pick the child up or meet the child at the emergency room.
- If your child is injured, an accident report should be prepared and you should be required to sign and date it when you pick your child up. This report should be in your child's file and you should also receive a copy of it. You should also receive and sign an incident report if your child harms another child.
Here is an example of a proper daycare incident report. In most cases, failure to document an incident is in violation of the licensing, so make sure you have one in hand when your child has an injury or accident at school.
