Massachusetts parents outraged after school doesn’t call 911 when daughter breaks arm

By Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News

Reporter

Fourth-grader Ally D'Eon suffered a nasty fall from her school's jungle gym on Tuesday, breaking her arm in two places. But her parents say the real offense occurred when school officials called the D'Eons to notify them of their daughter's injury, rather than calling 911 or an ambulance.

"The doctors in the emergency room and the nurses in the emergency room said, 'First aid 101, a break with a clear deformity needs an ambulance and it needs to be stabilized,'" Jenn D'Eon told WCVB.

The Lynn Daily Item reported that Veterans Memorial Elementary School Principal Jean Perry defended the decision, citing school district policy.

"The school nurse or another trained person will be responsible for administering first aid. When the nature of an illness or an injury appears in any way serious, every effort will be made to contact the parent and/or family physician immediately," the district policy reads, according to the paper.

Saugus Superintendent of Schools Richard P. Langlois also supported the school's decision in a statement, saying the "medical staff is fully qualified to make appropriate assessment and recommendation for treatment in such instances, and did so accordingly."

Nonetheless, Jenn D'Eon said the "case-by-case basis" school policy is ineffective and should be changed so that other students aren't left waiting in pain.

"I wanted to scream, 'Hurry up, get me out of here!'" Ally told WHDH.