Not to mention, the doctor who went, “Eh, the school’s right, Moon is fine.” :eek:
My opinion? Kids shouldn’t be playing with BB guns.
As others have posted, there has to be more to the story. Getting the average BB out is not that hard and I can’t imagine anyone that wouldn’t try to take it out on their own. (I can’t think of anyone I know who hasn’t managed to dig various foreign objects (BBs, fish hooks, twigs, …) out of themselves)
But the article says it was removed “from the skull”? So, the kid was shot point blank somehow, but not in the face and probably not a glancing blow if it embedded into the skull? Maybe there are questions about if there was alcohol and horse play involved on the part of the adults.
If it was just an average ‘kids playing around, shot self, dad didn’t get it out’… then I think CPS is totally over reacting.
But, if they have concerns that it might have been a suicide attempt or that daddy and his buddy were drunk and something got out of hand… then a little CPS involvement will teach them to think twice in the future. AND, if there are future events, it will document the current event toward the father’s parenting history.
One of the ER docs I work with had a daughter fall and hurt her arm. He checked it out and gave her a ice pack. Day of two later it was still hurting so he took her in and they found a fracture. Can’t tell you how many nothing injuries we see in the ER.
I’m not a dad, nor have I babysat, so I concede I’m a worrywort about that.
Maybe, but it seems to me like Dad’s concern for his child’s health should trump all of that.
Pretty much this. CPS knows a hell of a lot more about the situation than we do. This could easily be just another story the media presents in a misleading way to generate as much outrage as possible.
Dad may not have been adept with the knife, such that the boy presented at the hospital with a hideously bloody wound.
Yeah, we don’t know everything. Also they’re still investigating, so it’s not permanent (yet, at least).
But if there’s nothing more to the story, it doesn’t seem that big of a deal to me. You could live your whole life with a BB under your skin without any adverse effects beyond having problems every time you needed to board an airplane.
I AM an ER doctor and it took me three days before I took my 15 month old in for an X-ray after she hurt her wrist. It was broken…:smack:
ETA: she was not take into protective custody.
Yeah, I think the “I took a utility knife to my kid” part of the story may have raised more eyebrows than the “my kid shot himself with a BB” part.
Wouldn’t the kid need a tetanus shot update? Especially if the BB ricocheted? 
ETA: Especially after being cut in the scalp with a utility knife which is more likely to be rusted.
Yeah. And that’s why I think this stiry is different than the stories of not taking your kid to the ER for days and finding out your kid has a broken bone. If you thought your child had a bad break and you wrapped it in plaster yourself and then finally went o the ER, that might be more analogous to the story of someone digging around with a knife to get the BB out. Dad knew his son needed medical help and preferred to whip out a pocket knife rather than go right away.
Especially if he wasn’t very good at it! 
Zabali: The kid might be set if he’s up-to-date on the diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus vaccination, especially since I think kids are supposed to get a booster on that earlier now as the pertussis (whooping cough) portion doesn’t last as long as it used to.
My dad has had a BB embedded in his chin for the past 70-something years, and I don’t believe he’s ever had an issue getting onboard an airplane.
Thanks. I’m pretty sure you can’t legally buy a BB pistol in Canada; I didn’t know they existed.
Here’s aslightly longer version of the story, which includes the following:
FWIW, my (professional, not personal) dealings with my state’s CPS lead me to believe the father would have had to screw up brain surgery on the kid before they’d take a 12-year old out of the house. So I’m voting for “something more than lousy first aid.”
I think Wichita has a statute prohibiting the firing of BB guns within the city limit. (I’ve known more than one Kansas town that has such a statute.) I’m not sure if that includes for getting rid of varmints (pigeons, squirrels) or not. (Maybe you need a permit?) So, there’s that. Then here in Kansas they are espeically vigilant when it comes to tetanus boosters. Wichita has been known for being rough, and it has gotten rougher recently. And Kansas also has a meth problem. Any, and all of that could be factors.
Edit: Yep, they have a statute prohibiting the firing of BB guns within the city limit. PDF Second Edit: They make some BB pistols that look like actual guns too.
What I don’t understand is the repeated reference to removing the BB from the kid’s skull.
If it was embedded in the skull (as in the bone thing that the skull is made of - not just under the skin), that would almost have to be a concussion or some form of fracture? AND, if it was so embedded that the guy couldn’t get it back out?
Maybe this guy was pretty close to performing brain surgery and he just didn’t know it. It’s hard to imagine a kid not screaming to high heaven when someone is pushing around on a fresh skull fracture.
I do not think that what has been reported is sufficient to have the child taken in protection. I do think that it is very likely that there is much more to the story and or dear old dad than is being reported, which would make the taking into care more understandable.
I’ve witnessed a similar incident. My nutso nephew shot his buddy in the head with a BB gun. We were quite pissed off at him. I tried to dig it out of his head but it was embedded pretty firmly. Had I been on a desert isle, I certainly could have done it with a fresh exacto knife dipped in alcohol. My sister, an RN was not willing to do it, which surprised me.
Had it been me, I’d insist that my sister cut it out, even though I do have insurance, because I know there would be significant uncovered costs (actually, I’m pretty sure I’d have to pay the full cost, because my ridiculously expensive insurance makes me pay the first $2500). Plus, I just hate the idea of the expense of an ER on an insignificant injury. Actually, I’d just wait to the next day and go to the medical clinic.
The kid had no health insurance and it would cost over a $1000 to go to the ER. Plus, we figured that it spawn a police investigation. So, we took him to the hospital, got and there was a police report and it cost my sister a thousand bucks. I think my sister managed to convince the police not to press charges.
Yup.