Last December, a 4-month-old infant died at an unlicensed daycare facility in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is working to determine the cause of death and investigating the facility's safety management for suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death. doing.
table of contents
4-month-old infant confirmed dead after being transported to hospital
Mother “I want you to always sleep on your back” Strong request to the principal
Director: ``It's my fault for not doing enough staff training''
Key points to prevent accidents
Efforts to use ICT to monitor children
Open table of contents
table of contents
table of contents
4-month-old infant confirmed dead after being transported to hospital
Mother “I want you to always sleep on your back” Strong request to the principal
Director: ``It's my fault for not doing enough staff training''
Key points to prevent accidents
Efforts to use ICT to monitor children
4-month-old infant confirmed dead after being transported to hospital
On December 13th of last year, 4-month-old Mi Nagisa, who had been left in an unlicensed childcare facility in Setagaya Ward, was confirmed dead after being taken to a hospital.
According to Setagaya Ward and the facility's director, there were three people working at the facility at the time: the director, who was qualified as a nursery teacher, and two temporary workers who were not qualified. Also, I put him to bed on a futon, but he couldn't fall asleep.
At around 2:50 p.m., the principal went out to pick up and drop off the child, and one of the temporary staff members cradled and cradled Mi Nagisa, who was crying, but other children started crying and she was lying on her stomach. I think I let it sleep.
When the director returned around 3:15 p.m., she found that Minagi was unconscious.
Metropolitan Police Department investigates suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death
Setagaya Ward says the cause has not been determined at this time, but on-site inspections have found that infants are not properly burped after breastfeeding, and infants are sometimes placed to sleep on their stomachs, leading to suffocation and sudden death. It was confirmed that insufficient consideration was given to the syndrome, and that the child's complexion and breathing status were not carefully observed while the child was sleeping.
In addition to determining the cause of death, the Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the facility's safety management, with a view to suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death.
In response to Mi Nagisa's death, the Children's and Family Affairs Agency in February issued a warning to prefectures and local governments to allow infants to be able to see their faces unless a doctor has advised them to sleep on their stomachs for medical reasons. We are notifying childcare facilities under our jurisdiction to take thorough safety measures while sleeping, such as placing children on their backs.
Mother “I want you to always sleep on your back” Strong request to the principal
Mi Nagisa passed away at 4 months old.
According to his parents, he grew up quickly and was a healthy boy, but he was a spoiled brat who would cry if they left him for even a little while.
His parents said, ``Managi was just like a boy; he was energetic and big, but his voice was weak when he cried, and there was a gap in his voice that made him so cute.He was a very spoiled child, so we were always together and he did more and more things every day. As they grow in number, the expressions on their faces change, so I was really happy and filled with hope."
Both parents work, and when they returned to work, they applied to about 10 licensed daycare centers to leave Minagi at, but they were unsuccessful, so they decided to leave her at an unlicensed daycare facility in Setagaya Ward, where there was only one slot available. It means that it has become.
When her mother visited the facility in advance, she saw the child sleeping on his stomach and made a strong request to the director, ``Managi cannot turn over, so he should always sleep on his back.'' .
The parents said, ``Since he cannot roll over yet, we asked him to lie on his back at all times until he turns one year old,'' and wrote in the request form.Looking back, I think they could have used other means, such as a babysitter, so we were very happy with the request. I feel very sorry for Nagisa and I regret it.''
"I want society as a whole to work on providing appropriate childcare that parents can feel at ease."
``I want to give my life back, but I'm so sad that I can't do that.'' Society as a whole needs to make sure that Maki Makoto's life is not wasted and that appropriate childcare is provided so that her parents can feel at ease. I hope this initiative will lead to improving the quality of childcare."
Director: ``It's my fault for not doing enough staff training''
The director of the unlicensed child care facility in Setagaya Ward, where Mi Nagisa was left, responded to an interview with NHK in hopes of preventing the incident from happening again.
According to the nursery school director, at the time, the facility was caring for a total of nine children between the ages of 0 and 2 years old, and at the time of the incident, the nursery school principal was away on a pick-up trip, so the staff, including a male temporary worker, were taken care of. It was handled by two people.
The principal had told them not to let Mi Nagisa sleep on her stomach, but on that day, after the male staff had cradled Mi Nagisa who was crying and comforted her, other children started crying, so she was placed on her stomach. That means I let him sleep.
On the other hand, the government's guidelines for preventing sleeping accidents at daycare facilities call for regular checks on children's breathing, body position, and sleeping conditions, but in these facilities, when the principal is absent, He revealed that he was unable to be thorough when he was busy dealing with multiple children.
Director Etsuo Nozaki said, ``We had a checklist, but when we were busy, we didn't use it. We weren't checking every five minutes.''
Additionally, the principal participated in training sessions sponsored by the Tokyo metropolitan government on preventing childcare accidents and learned about guidelines and not letting children sleep on their stomachs, but other staff members were unable to attend due to staff shortages and other reasons. It is said that the content of the training was not shared sufficiently.
Director Nozaki said, ``It's difficult for three staff members to take care of 10 children, but we've been able to manage it in the past, so I thought we'd be able to manage it that day. I feel it is my responsibility."
Key points to prevent accidents
This training was held in February by a corporation that operates daycare centers in Sapporo and other areas.
Approximately 350 people, including childcare workers, participated online.
Hiroko Inokuma, a professor at Komazawa Women's Junior College who is an expert on safety measures at childcare facilities, taught the following:
▽ Place children on their backs from the bedtime stage
▽ Put them to sleep in a bright room so that their complexions and expressions can be seen
▽ From 0 to 1 year old
We explained the four points to keep in mind: for
children aged 10 to 100, touch their bodies once every 5 minutes to check if they are breathing, and to
avoid placing things near their faces that could block their faces, such as stuffed animals or towels.
She also said that in order to prevent serious accidents, it is important for childcare workers to talk to each other and check to see if there is a risk of choking or if there are any unusual situations. did.
Expert: “It is important that all staff at childcare facilities receive training”
Professor Inokuma said that it is important for all staff at childcare facilities to undergo training, saying, ``I think it's very difficult to send staff for training, especially if it's a small nursery or an unlicensed facility, because childcare isn't available. However, there is now an online system, and we need to create a system to ensure that all workplaces where children are cared for receive training.''
Furthermore, ``I believe that even unlicensed facilities are not being sufficiently audited, and there is a way to seek help from the private sector. I visit them and give them advice.I think we will need to do something similar to an audit.''
Regarding the use of ICT devices to watch over children, he said, ``Even during nap time, we need a minimum number of people to meet the standard of placement, and having that number of people as an extra watchful eye is important.'' I think the best way is to use machines to make it a safe material.''
Efforts to use ICT to monitor children
This is a licensed nursery school located in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo.
This nursery school has been installing devices equipped with sensors during nap time in classes for children ages 0 to 1.
When the child goes to bed, the child care worker attaches a sensor to the child's clothes.
Sensors detect the child's body position and breathing status, and if the child remains face down or stops breathing, an alarm will sound.
At this nursery school, the childcare worker checks on the child's status once every five minutes, but data is automatically sent every five minutes, eliminating the need to input data into checklists and reducing the burden on the childcare worker. It is said that it led to
“Visualizing child safety: reducing the burden on childcare workers and providing peace of mind for parents”
Etsuko Iashiro, General Manager of Solast Children's Business Headquarters, which operates daycare centers, said, ``Instead of placing the responsibility solely on the daycare workers at the site, the management company also introduces equipment to visualize child safety and improve childcare. "We hope to lighten the burden on teachers and provide peace of mind for parents."