Special Investigation Report # 2013D0929010

Allegation: On 5/3/2013 Child A was observed with a red mark in between his
eyes alleged from him falling.
INVESTIGATION:
Child A’s mother stated that on May 3, 2013, at pick-up time she was given an
incident report which stated that Child A fell outside at 1:50pm. Child A’s mother
observed her child to have a bump on his head and scrapes in between his eyes
near his nose. She usually arrives between 2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. and is unsure if this
is the reason they did not notify her by phone.
I interviewed Ms. Sharp regarding this injury. She was aware of the injury and
stated that Ms. Tomlinson was Child A’s caregiver during the injury. Ms. Sharp was
unable to locate the accident report for Child A during my onsite inspection and
indicated that the report was located at another office. Ms. Sharp confirmed that
Child A’s mother was not verbally notified during this injury to Child A’s face. Ms.
Sharp deemed that Child A’s injury was not serious, and according to the center’s
policy verbal and written notification is only completed for head injuries and severe
face injuries. Otherwise, parents are informed at pick-up time.
Child A’s mother provided a copy of the accident report. I reviewed the accident
report for this injury which stated that on May 3, 2013 at 1:50 p.m., Child A was
hopping from log to log when he lost his balance and fell, bumping the bridge of his
nose on the edge of the log. There was a red mark on his nose between his eyes
with some swelling to the nose despite icing the area. The parent notification
section was left blank on the accident report. The incident report does not indicate
any bump on Child A’s head which is inconsistent with information provided by Child
A’s mother.
I interviewed Ms. Tomlinson regarding the injury. She estimated that there were
seven to eight children total on the playground. Attendance records confirm that
there were eight children with Ms. Tomlinson and assistant caregiver Kristy
Poznanski. The eight children were separated into two groups. Ms. Tomlinson’s
group was playing in the natural playground area consisting of tree stumps of
various sizes. The children were going from stump to stump in a circle. Ms.
Tomlinson had her back turned to Child A as she was assisting another child with
the stump activity. She didn’t actually witness the fall but heard him crying and
assumed he lost his balance going from stump to stump. She assisted in helping
Child A stand up and began caring for him. She observed a mark located on the
bridge of his nose between his eyes. She applied ice to the area to reduce the
swelling.
I interviewed Ms. Poznanski who confirmed that she was the assistant caregiver with
Mary during this incident. There were approximately eight children outside, and they
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