Does anyone watch children with seizure?

[Jtlt]

This Tuesday that just pass I had a horrific situation to deal with. I have a 1 1/2 little guy who get febrile seizure, but he had a regular seizure. I have never seen one ever or handle it. He was foaming from the mouth, his body was jerking, eyes rolling back, the worst thing was he stop breathing. I had to perform CPR on the little guy. I was so scared I was going to lose the little guy! But thank God he was okay.

Would you guys as a daycare provider keep a liability like that? If you keep a child who has that condition what/how would you have yourself prepared for this.

[apples and bananas]

Good for you for dealing with it! You should feel empowered that you handled the situation calmly and did all the right things!

I have not been in any sort of emergency situation (knock on wood) But I would think that maybe since you've gone through it once and you've handled it well you know what to do and what to look for next time.

I don't know if I'd keep that kind of liability. What else is mom supposed to do? Stay home from work because her child had a seizure? I guess I would want to make sure we know everything there is to know. What do the dr.'s say. What did you do right? What should you do if it happens again.

[Starshine]

I used to take care of a little guy who had febrile seizures, though he never had one while he was in my care. I just made sure the mom explained to me exactly what I was to do if he had one, and read what it said in the CPR/First Aid book, so that I would be comfortable handling it.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Honestly this is a risk with ANY child in our care so we should have a plan in place for dealing with it either way ... aka have training in CPR and First aid, have emergency evacuation plan and drills where you practice scenarios and so forth so the kids 'know what to do' and so practicing allows you to perfect what works in a plan and what did not 'work' when put into practice.

That said I do not know if I could care with a child who had medical needs that put them at a higher a risk of needing emergency medical care increasing the odds that it could happen to its only a matter of time until it does happen ~ kwim? I guess I would have to weigh my current group and our ability to cope with meeting those needs.

We are working alone at that comes with risks just caring for 'normal healthy children' taking on a child with special medical conditions that could result in seizures or need of CPR and so forth it just increases the liability of said risk as you mentioned .... what if while dealing with this child's medical emergency another child gets into mischief and injuries themselves and so forth .... sometimes it is ok to say to a client 'upon reflection I am wondering if your childcare service needs might be better met with a nanny who can give undivided attention OR centre care where the front line educators have additional adult support in an emergency .... this is the great thing about the current childcare options across Canada ~ parents have CHOICE in the various models out there and how they meet varied needs

[Jtlt]

Thank you for some of the quick replys. I do have an emergency plan and honestly I was never ready for that situation to happen. The little guy mother told me he has febrile seizures only, NOT a regular seizure, he has been in my care for 8 months and nothing ever happen. So honestly I was only prepared for febrile seizure. What makes it even more worst for me is that I'm 2 1/2 months pregnant. It was so hard to make the 911 phone call and try to preform CPR, count and watch all the other kids.

[Momof4]

OMG! Pats on the back and hero of the day award and all good things for you and I certainly hope the parents appreciate you up to high heaven for going through such an ordeal. Has it happened before? Is it an ongoing condition that is being treated medically? I have a lot of questions before I could give you an answer.

My SIL has epilepsy and as long as he takes his medication he's great but he's in university and forgot to take the meds one day and sure enough he had a seizure. If I had a child who was being closely monitored and on meds I would not have a problem accepting them into care if I knew up front that the parents were being responsible. But then I don't have any problem accepting a child with a nut allergy or anything like that either.

[Momof4]

Oops, we were typing at the same time. I think this is all of our worst nightmare, but I'm still wondering about meds and how this should be controlled. If you keep the child in care you should probably have more in depth training on how to handle the situation, although it sounds like you were wonderful.

[Jtlt]

OMG! Pats on the back and hero of the day award and all good things for you and I certainly hope the parents appreciate you up to high heaven for going through such an ordeal. Has it happened before? Is it an ongoing condition that is being treated medically? I have a lot of questions before I could give you an answer.

My SIL has epilepsy and as long as he takes his medication he's great but he's in university and forgot to take the meds one day and sure enough he had a seizure. If I had a child who was being closely monitored and on meds I would not have a problem accepting them into care if I knew up front that the parents were being responsible. But then I don't have any problem accepting a child with a nut allergy or anything like that either.

When they signed on the parents told me it was just febrile seizures and she told me everything to handle the situation and I felt comfortable enough to watch him. It was one time thing. When the situation that happen on tuesday she told me some more info that he has has a regular seizure without any warnings, and one more at my house. So in total he has had 2 regular seizure and 2 febrile seizure. So now they are trying to get an appointment at sick kids hospital in toronto.

[kidlove]

Wow!!! So glad things turned out okay for him and you! YES, I would be concerned over liability. I only temp took care of a child who suffered from seizures, luckily she never had one in my care though. The mother provided an epipen to stick in her thigh and informed me to immediately call 911 IF she went into one. I was asked to take her full time and declined (she also had autism and didnt walk, got into everything) too much work.
A few years ago I had a little baby choke (on his own snot) at the time I didnt know what he had in his throat gagging and gasping for air, scariest situation ever, did infant back thrusts and called 911. in that moment so many thoughts went through my head, what if he dies? what will happen to me? my daycare? my life? doesnt take much to lose it all when we are in this job, the liability is extreamly high. There is so much at stake when you have someone elses child in your care. so glad everything turned out the way it did. The one thing I got out of the experience was...I could use my training and save a life.

[sunnydays]

I would not feel comfortable keeping a child with this condition in my care. First of all, there is just way too much risk involved. Second of all, why did the parents not tell you up front that he had had this type of "regular" seizure as well as teh "febrile" seizures (I put those in quotations because I don't really know the difference)? If a parent is hiding vital information like this, they would be gone immediately. I feel for parents who have to deal with this type of thing, but it is YOU who could end up being sued and your life ruined if the child dies in your care or if another child is hurt while you are busy dealing with a seizure.