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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Running Daycare During Power Outage?
birdlady 04:52 PM 09-29-2017
Hi, first time user here.I'm hoping you can tell me if I'm overreacting here 
(TD;TR: 4+ hour power outage at large daycare in dark rainy weather with no backup power/lighting, no running water, etc. Was forced to do afternoon 'diaper duty' without being able to properly wash my hands. Director kept daycare open and wouldn't notify parents.)
I work at a relatively large daycare centre and the power went out just after 1pm today, during naptime. We were told by the power company that it wouldn't be on until 4:30, which then changed to 6:30. We (staff) thought that parents should be called as there is no running water to wash hands, toilets can't be flushed, and it was so dark in the classrooms due to rainy weather that one couldn't read without straining. We were walking into each other in the halls if we didn't have a cell phone light on, as the emergency lighting went out after less than an hour.
The director said nobody was in danger so the daycare would stay running as "normal", without parents being notified. I was on "diaper duty" and had to change a full room of soiled diapers in a barely-lit room (small battery powered lamp on the table), including 8 bowel movements, without being able to wash my hands. I was told to use baby wipes by other staff (!?), and when I complained to the assistant director was told to deal with it as there was nothing they could do. It is policy to properly wash hands with warm water and soap between each change regardless of whether gloves are used. I scrounged up some hand sanitizer in the closet and used that in between glove changes, but was still really unhappy with the situation. Afterwards a staff arrived with a pitcher of water from the fridge to wash my hands with, but the children using the toilets continued to not wash their own hands.
The power came back on at 5:30pm, so we were without water or light for over 4 hours. Is this normal for daycares to respond this way to a power outage? I'm mostly upset that I was made to change a room of dirty diapers with low lighting (made it hard to see what I was doing) and without being able to properly wash my hands until the very end of my shift at 5:30pm, when the power came back on. I feel my health and that of the kid's were put at risk so as to not possibly inconvenience parents. I had one parent give me a look when I didn't wash my hands and used sanitizer after a change, and acted repulsed when I explained I couldn't wash my hands due to no water. I was so embarrassed! Do I have a right to be this upset? My coworkers in the same room thought it was no big deal, but they also didn't have to have anything to do with the bathroom that afternoon.
(TD;TR: 4+ hour power outage at large daycare in dark rainy weather with no backup power/lighting, no running water, etc. Was forced to do afternoon 'diaper duty' without being able to properly wash my hands. Director kept daycare open and wouldn't notify parents.)
I work at a relatively large daycare centre and the power went out just after 1pm today, during naptime. We were told by the power company that it wouldn't be on until 4:30, which then changed to 6:30. We (staff) thought that parents should be called as there is no running water to wash hands, toilets can't be flushed, and it was so dark in the classrooms due to rainy weather that one couldn't read without straining. We were walking into each other in the halls if we didn't have a cell phone light on, as the emergency lighting went out after less than an hour.
The director said nobody was in danger so the daycare would stay running as "normal", without parents being notified. I was on "diaper duty" and had to change a full room of soiled diapers in a barely-lit room (small battery powered lamp on the table), including 8 bowel movements, without being able to wash my hands. I was told to use baby wipes by other staff (!?), and when I complained to the assistant director was told to deal with it as there was nothing they could do. It is policy to properly wash hands with warm water and soap between each change regardless of whether gloves are used. I scrounged up some hand sanitizer in the closet and used that in between glove changes, but was still really unhappy with the situation. Afterwards a staff arrived with a pitcher of water from the fridge to wash my hands with, but the children using the toilets continued to not wash their own hands.
The power came back on at 5:30pm, so we were without water or light for over 4 hours. Is this normal for daycares to respond this way to a power outage? I'm mostly upset that I was made to change a room of dirty diapers with low lighting (made it hard to see what I was doing) and without being able to properly wash my hands until the very end of my shift at 5:30pm, when the power came back on. I feel my health and that of the kid's were put at risk so as to not possibly inconvenience parents. I had one parent give me a look when I didn't wash my hands and used sanitizer after a change, and acted repulsed when I explained I couldn't wash my hands due to no water. I was so embarrassed! Do I have a right to be this upset? My coworkers in the same room thought it was no big deal, but they also didn't have to have anything to do with the bathroom that afternoon.