blood splattered

[dbonn]

Indiana - 17 year old daughter was walking to class, a fight between 3 boys, with claw of hammer. She did not know these boys. She was hit, minor, no cuts. Blood from victim was splattered all over other children, lockers, floors and my daughter.
Blood was splattered on faces.

While in nurses station, nurse and janitors were talking about how to clean blood. The said to use Perioxide (this does not kill hiv/hep).

Called local hospital and talked to Head of the Contagious Diseases Dept. Told me that if the victim does not voluntarily get blood tests (hiv/hep) my daughter and other children will have to go thru 6 months of testing and medication.

Waiting for almost 2 weeks for school to contact me about blood. Finally I had to call them. They said I was the first parent to say anything. Also I asked, have you notified the other parents. They said No. They would check into it. I contacted local Board of Health, they said they couldn't help me because they were not in charge of Education. Told me to keep on the Principal.

4 days later, assistant principle calls me and says that they have contacted mother of victim, to tell them my concerns. Said she would contact her doctor and ask him. The ass. principal also said that the mother would not pay for the testing of her son.

There is more to this, but the bottom line, is that I have been working hard to find out what to do and no one is helping me. I have to do everything. It is Fed and state law that blood spills need to be treated as a hazard. Why do I have to find out what to do? Why do I have to make them aware of the hiv/hep? They are ignoring me. They have not notified other parents about the blood spilled. They tell me I have to contact their(school lawyer) to get the victims blood test paid for.

Why do I have to make phone calls, write letters to the editor, contact the police department to file assault charges. Isn't this the schools responsibility? They are giving me the run around.

Can I do anything about the way they did and are handling this?
I have the communities backing with the weapon issues, but most parents do not understand that one tiny drop of blood can ruin someones life. And this school corporation has not and will not deal with it. What can I do? Please, no one will help me. Thank You Diana

 

[dorenephilpot]

General rule of thumb: The person who is highly concerned about something is the person who has to put in the legwork and time to resolve the situation.

People who are unconcerned about a situation will not, generally, expend time and energy just because someone else expresses a concern about it.

I'm not saying they're correct in that stance. I'm just saying that that's a general rule of thumb about human nature: If they don't have a concern, they're not going to fall all over themselves fixing something that you are concerned about.

That having been said, this is not an area of my expertise, but I believe that Indiana has passed legislation that allows for involuntary testing of crime perpetrators when the victims are concerned about HIV status.

The question in my mind, though, is that your daughter wasn't the actual crime victim here -- the boys who were attacked were, technically. Therefore, I'm not sure she's in a position to force a test. One person to answer this would be someone in the prosecutor's office in the county in which you live.

The other thing is: If the kids at issue will agree to submit to a test if you pay for and you are as concerned about it as you say you are, then pay for the testing, and then you'll have some peace of mind.

Hope this helps. Best of luck to you in what sounds like a horrendous situation.

P.S. I think I'd be more concerned about psychological ramifications for your child than the physical ones, although you might already have your child in counseling for this.

P.P.S. If your child does contract a blood-borne illness as a result of this situation, then you will have a legal cause of action -- and all the trouble you went through likely would make a judge or jury VERY sympathetic to your situation.

 

[dbonn]

answers/questions/blood

Thank you for answering, a couple of questions and explanations.

She is in therapy, but doing fine now.

But what of the other children? Over a dozen. These children were splashed with blood, in one case, the child was so covered they stripped her clothes off. At no time has this school district notified any parent of the blood spills. They are keeping this quiet.

So wouldn't or couldn't there be some kind of legal action that can be taken, to force the school administration to take action. And to take responsibility for their lack of responsibility to our children. They have not acted responsible and have neglected all health and Osha laws/rules/guidelines.

Wouldn't this be negligance (sp?) ? Wouldn't this be considered a coverup by a State agency? I am so confused but do know that this is WRONG.


Wouldn't it be the school's responsiblility to notify parents? Wouldn't it be the schools responsiblility to inform us of the possible contimination of blood?(most parents don't get it, if I didn't teach blood bourne diseases (my industry) nothing would have happened)? They have ignored laws and seems to me that they should be responsible.

Even if the boy(victim) refuses testing, where do I go from here?
Even if the boy(victim) does voluntarily get testing, where do I go from here? The school system should have handled this, but because I am raising XXXX, they are forced to pat me on the arm and say, well its okay....Jeez..........hush hush...I am worried about the other children, I am worried about other fights and blood...this is a large school, over a 1,000 students. How will they handle the next blood spill.........

Sorry, but as you can tell, I am at the end of my rope. I cannot afford to hire an attorney for advice. Need to know if it is even worth going to an attorney. I am ready to go to Indianapolis news stations. Thank you again....Diana

 

[dorenephilpot]

My guess is that the news stations would be VERY interested in this story.

Watch how fast the school officials start doing the right things after they get some bad publicity.....

You might also contact the Indianapolis Star.

 

[hmmbrdzz]

I did not know, when I posted my first note to you, that there was this much history. You have some very valid concerns, and I would be raising XXXX too. For one, I can't imagine a school system using hydrogen peroxide to clean up a blood spill. That is unheard of (or should be) and would be considered a violation several public health policies, including a violation of OSHA guidelines. You've gotten great advice from the other poster. If there was spattering of blood to the faces of these children, that's a pretty significant exposure, and the school should be doing everything within the law to follow up on this manner. Your child (and the other children involved) should be given the option to be given the series of tests, which would include a baseline and then testing for upwards of 6 mo to a year. This would be costly. Unfortunately, the children who sustained just the blood exposure may not be considered "victims" and therefore any mandatory testing might not be an option. If mandatory testing is not an option, there would have to be "consent" from the patient (i.e. the boys in this case). How old are the boys who assaulted the victim? If you don't get satisfaction from the school or your public health director, you may indeed want to talk to a reporter. It's been a few years since I worked CD's (communicable diseases), but I'll put my thinking cap on and try to remember where you might be able to get additional help. Off the top of my head -- start with the school, the school's director, the school's board, the public health director, your state health director, OSHA, Department of Health and Human Resources, anyone else in the AG's office, the child's physician. Good luck. Keep us posted.

hmmbrdzz