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A blister on the hand of a child who touched chemicals after a mix-up on the waterslide at a daycare in Christchurch. (Stuff)<\/p>\nNumerous children have “significant injuries” after a hazardous substance was misidentified as detergent and poured down a waterslide at a New Zealand daycare.<\/p>\n
Emergency services are responding to an incident at a daycare centre on Ferry Road in Christchurch this afternoon.<\/p>\n
One person was in a serious condition, the St John ambulance service said, with six others moderately injured.<\/p>\n
A blister on the hand of a child who touched chemicals after a mix-up on the waterslide at a daycare in Christchurch. (Stuff)<\/p>\n
Seven patients were taken to hospital, five of them were children and two were adults.<\/p>\n
Nikita Wagstaff showed Stuff a blister on her daughter’s hand, from what she was told was a “mix-up” with chemicals on the waterslide.<\/p>\n
She raced to the kindergarten after seeing details of the incident in the news and said the daycare did not tell her what chemical it was.<\/p>\n
“My heart was pounding. I was so scared. I almost cried… that’s my son in there,” another parent said.<\/p>\n
A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said a teacher at Kinder Care had misidentified a “corrosive product that has ended up on the slip and slide” and caused “significant” injuries.<\/p>\n
He could not specify was the chemical was but said the staff recognised they’d made a mistake and were able to provide “a professional response”.<\/p>\n
“They gave us the safety data sheets for the product, as well as the containers to help identify and get a quick resolution.”<\/p>\n
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The scene at Ferry Road. (Stuff)<\/p>\n
St John national operations manager Chris Harrison said it assessed a total of 40 patients, including one that was serious and six that were moderately injured.<\/p>\n
Six patients were taken to hospital and one of them was an adult teacher.<\/p>\n
St John later said one more moderately injured adult was also taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
He said the injuries were chemical burns with “a bit of blistering”.<\/p>\n
They were decontaminated at the scene and then transported to Christchurch City Hospital.<\/p>\n
Two others had minor injuries and were given advice for if they needed assistance later on and the other children were uninjured and had gone home with their parents.<\/p>\n
Harrison confirmed the product had been poured down the slide and the children had slid down it.<\/p>\n
He said there was a teacher at the base of it in a paddling pool.<\/p>\n
Fourteen St John vehicles were in attendance and two children and an adult were seen being placed in ambulances.<\/p>\n
A young girl who looked to be about three or four years old was carried out wrapped in a blanket.<\/p>\n
Chris Lynch reported that a four-year-old girl had been transported to Christchurch Hospital with serious burns to her legs and buttocks from a chemical liquid spill.<\/p>\n
A parent, who did not want to be named, said she hadn’t heard anything from the daycare, but her child was in good health.<\/p>\n
Two other parents Stuff spoke to at the scene said they also weren’t notified about the incident, they came to collect their children after seeing media reports.\ufeff<\/p>\n