Procedure for Possibly Sustained Head Injury (2)

\Procedure for assessing, documenting and reporting students who indicate they have sustained, or may have sustained, a head injury outside of school or on school grounds on a previous school day:

  1. Refer to the Suspected Head Injury Assessment Form.
    Begin by assessing the student using the Head Injury Danger Signs Checklist. If
    the student has one or more of the indicated symptoms, the student should be seen by EMS health care providers immediately. Contact the parent/guardian and/or EMS (911) to arrange for emergency health care delivery. The student must be continuously monitored until dismissed from school for emergency care. Provide first aid as needed. Complete the Suspected Head Injury Assessment Form and provide a copy to the parent/guardian. A copy of the completed Suspected Head Injury Assessment Form may be provided to the emergency health care professional by the parent/guardian or by school personnel.
  2. If the student’s symptoms indicate the student does not require immediate attention from his/her physician or emergency services per the Head Injury Danger Signs Checklist, administer the Concussion Signs and Symptoms Checklist and ask about his/her sleep patterns. Drowsiness, sleeping more or less than usual, or difficulty falling asleep may be signs of concussion. If the student does not demonstrate signs or symptoms of concussion per the Concussion Signs and Symptoms Checklist and denies a change in sleep patterns, the child may be returned to class. If the student indicates he/she is experiencing an alteration in normal sleep patterns, assess the student for symptoms listed on the Concussion Signs and Symptoms Checklist.If the student does show one or more signs of a concussion based on the completed checklist, contact the parent to arrange for the student to be further evaluated by a health care professional. Continue to monitor the child using the checklist until the parent/guardian arrives to take the child for medical evaluation.
  3. If after assessing the student for symptoms listed on the Concussion Signs and Symptoms Checklist the student does not show symptoms indicating the need for referral for medical evaluation, the student may return to class. Complete theSuspected Head Injury Assessment Form. Contact the parent/guardian to report the visit, assessment, interventions and student disposition.
  4. Share a copy of the completed Suspected Head Injury Assessment Form with the parent/guardian of any child for whom the form has been completed. Parents/guardians should be notified that it is appropriate to share a copy of the form with the child’s health care provider(s),and a second copy of the form may be provided for this purpose.
  5. Provide a copy of the CDC form “Heads Up to Schools: Know Your Concussion ABCs, A Fact Sheet for Parents” for the parent/guardian.
  6. Provide a copy of the CDC form “Acute Concussion Evaluation Care Plan – School Version” with the parent/guardian of any student referred for medical evaluation of a suspected head injury for the health care provider’s consideration in planning for the student’s return to school.
  7. Complete the Archdiocese of Baltimore Report of Student Injury form for any student who may have been injured on school grounds and is referred for medical evaluation/treatment. This form may be obtained from the Office of Risk Management. Send the completed form to the Office of Risk management.