In Case of...In case of an emergency, your identification and contact numbers are stolen or unavailable, or your charges are hurt or missing, develop a system to retrieve vital information.
A quick option is to send yourself an email with the data police or medical personnel might need. Include images, even video, of your charges. Be certain you know how to access your email remotely.
When working with children, carry a cell phone with you at all times. When going out in public to the playground, the pool, an amusement park, or zoo take a photo of each child with your mobile phone in case you get separated. That way if the child gets lost, you can remember what the child was wearing and show security the photo of the child.
Make sure the parents have signed an Authorization to Treat a Minor Consent Form which provides you written permission allowing the you to seek treatment, to authorize treatment, and to discuss treatment with health care providers. Click here to download an Authorization to Treat a Minor Consent Form. You will need a signature from a notary public to make the document legal.
You should also always carry insurance information and other payment options to allow the child to get proper care without delay. The nanny should also insist on an emergency phone number or signal so the parent can be quickly notified in event of an emergency.
Have you ever been in an emergency with a child?
The children's pediatrician would not accept my signed authorization to treat a minor paper (we got from the nanny agency) when I took the children in for their immunizations. She said the form was for emergencies. When she called the parents they were NOT answering their calls. I had to re-schedule and bring another note specifically allowing the immunizations.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good idea to have a couple copies of the release form available for immediate access. Suppose you are in a car accident with them, the first place a police officer will look for your information should you be unconcious is in the glove box among the insurance information.
ReplyDeleteThe second place I strive to keep the information is in the backpack that I commonly carry with my charges when we are out somewhere.
The third place, if my charge is in a stroller and we are on a walk in the neighborhood is in a stroller compartment.
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To answer the question, I have done ER trips a few times, broken arm, broken finger, a child who decided she needed to stick a candy cane in her ear. Then there are the little things like high fevers etc. --- Things like this happen with kids, be prepared.
When I had to take the child to the ER for stitches they wouldn't accept the Consent Form either. They still wanted to talk to the parents for permission. I wonder if we need an attorney to make the document rather than using the one given to us by the nanny agency.
ReplyDeleteNever had an emergency with a child but I have an emergency consent form in the glove compartment and one in the diaper bag.
ReplyDeleteThe comments about emergency release are interesting because yes even though I had the forms with the kids, they still called a parent too.
ReplyDeleteI also though have gone with my bosses sometimes to the peditrician appointments so that the doctors and nurses meet me. One made a point of saying to the doctor I want my nanny to meet you in the event of an emergency. Another peditircian said she would keep the release on file as long as she saw the parent sign it in front of her or her staff.
If you get a notary public to sign the form it should be fine.
ReplyDeleteI have been writing an article related to all of this and since my early posts I thought I would run the comments and issues brought up here by a judge I know.
ReplyDeleteHis reccomendation to find out what the policy of the individual doctor's office is in advance of emergency or doctor appointment, etc.
When you know you are going to have a procedure get the doctor office paperwork nec to have prodcedure without parent present. But in emergency situations that might not be the case and get the constent to treat a minor paperwork from a legal web site and have a notary public sign it.
ReplyDeleteBoth my momboss and dadboss are attorneys. The medical consent form generally implies that the authorized person can give consent "in the event that the parent/guardian is unable to be reached". Every form I've ever had from a parent has explicity stated such, anyways. All have been notarized. In my area, the pediatricians actually handle it a little differently...instead of the general consent form that I carry, each office has its own form that the parent must fill out to be left on file there.
ReplyDeleteIt is also important to check what the time limit is in your state. Consent forms in Michigan are only valid for 6 months and must be dated when signed. I would presume that every state is different, though.
Once signed by a notary public it ought to be legal.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ilrg.com/forms/auth-minormed.html
I had the form declined twice for treatment of minor but we did not have it signed by notary public.
We have also had a medical office provide us with their own paperwork to allow a scheduled procedure on my charge without the parents present.