Managing Emergencies in Daycare
Staff SOP for signaling, containing, and reporting a fight inside Daycare.
Purpose
This SOP covers what to do the moment a fight breaks out inside Daycare: how to signal it, where the safety equipment lives, how to contain and separate the dogs, and how to close it out with an incident report. Every yard is set up the same way for this exact reason, so the equipment is where you expect it no matter which yard you're in.
At a Glance
- Signal a Daycare fight by repeating "Daycare" three times on the walkie talkie: "DAYCARE DAYCARE DAYCARE."
- Every daycare yard has a red or pink break board that never moves from its spot.
- Every daycare yard, plus each doorway and exit, keeps at least three red "emergency" slip leashes on hand at all times; like the break board, they should never be moved from their spot in case they are needed.
- Give everyone involved 10 to 20-plus minutes to decompress before they go back to regular duties.
- Check dogs for missed puncture wounds throughout the rest of the day, especially long-coated dogs.
Immediate Actions
Signal the Fight
The moment a fight starts in Daycare, get on the walkie talkie and repeat "Daycare" three times: "DAYCARE DAYCARE DAYCARE." Every staff member should stop what they're doing when they hear that call. As many people as possible should head over to help manage the fight, but at least one staff member needs to first confirm that the dogs elsewhere in the facility, outside Daycare, are secured and safe before joining in.
Contain and Separate
Locate the yard's break board. It's red or pink, it's supposed to be easy to reach, and it should never be moved from its assigned spot for exactly this reason. Grab emergency slip leashes, at least three are kept in every yard and at every doorway and exit, labeled "emergency" on the handle. Use body pressure and your tone of voice to move dogs away from the fight while you slip leashes over as many involved or surrounding dogs as you can.
Some dogs involved in a fight may need to sit out the rest of the day for observation or to decompress.
After the Fight
Let everyone involved settle before they go back to their regular duties: 10 to 20-plus minutes is normal. First, confirm no employees were injured. Then have everyone involved write down what happened from their own point of view.
Keep checking the dogs throughout the day. A puncture wound can go unnoticed on first inspection, especially on a dog with longer fur. Whether the fighting dogs stay separated for the rest of the day depends on how badly they were hurt and how comfortable staff are supervising them together again.
Incident Terminology
Use these four terms to describe what happened:
- Snark: a big aggressive display, usually loud vocalizing, from one dog toward another dog that does not vocalize or fight back.
- Tiff: an aggressive-sounding moment where both dogs vocalize, but there's no physical contact.
- Scuffle: a brief incident, under 5 seconds, with vocalizing and physical contact between two or more dogs. May or may not cause injury.
- Scrap: a longer incident, over 5 seconds, between two or more dogs over status or control of something, with body contact and possibly vocalizing. May or may not cause injury.
Reporting the Incident
Whoever witnessed or broke up a situation that hurt a dog, a staff member, or a piece of equipment fills out a general incident report and submits it to the manager on duty immediately. Check any available camera angles for evidence and review. Document the situation in the kennel system and place a phone call to the parents to update them and walk through the next steps.
Who to Ask
The manager on duty is who a general incident report goes to. For the specific medical and follow-up steps once a bite or fight draws blood, see Managing Fights and Bites. For the reporting rules that apply beyond Daycare, see Incident Reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should new hires know when a fight breaks out in Daycare?
Say "Daycare" three times: "DAYCARE DAYCARE DAYCARE." That's the entire signal. Every staff member who hears it stops what they're doing, and as many as possible head over to help, as long as one person first confirms the rest of the facility's dogs are secured.
What should new hires know when locating the break board and slip leashes?
Every daycare yard has its own red or pink break board and at least three red "emergency" slip leashes, and each doorway or exit also keeps its own set of slip leashes. None of it moves from its assigned spot, so it's always where you expect it.
What should new hires know when telling a Snark from a Tiff, a Scuffle, or a Scrap?
A Snark is one-sided noise with no fight-back. A Tiff is mutual noise with no contact. A Scuffle is under 5 seconds with contact. A Scrap is over 5 seconds with contact, usually over status or control of something. Use the term that actually matches what you saw when you write the incident report.