Shocking details, failures by childcare centre after girl left on bus

The false check-in and frantic final moments that may have saved a three-year-old girl left on a childcare bus for six hours can now be revealed for the first time.

A series of failures by two childcare workers that led to a toddler spending six hours strapped into a seat on a bus in full sun has been revealed in court.

Tara Alyce Steers, 31, and Bianca Maree Reynolds, 32, pleaded guilty in Rockhampton District Court on July 26 to one count of grievous bodily harm.

The women were responsible for leaving a child, who was later discovered in a critical condition, locked in the bus all day on May 4, 2022.

Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips outlined how the two women repeatedly failed to follow the centre’s procedures and regulations imposed by governments in response to a case in Cairns in 2020 where a child died after being left in a childcare bus.

Mr Phillips said Reynolds, as the centre’s director, was responsible for ensuring the centre complied with regulations.

She started work at the centre in July 2014 and was promoted to director in January 2019 while Steers, who was a senior educator, started working at the centre three years prior to the incident.

Reynolds updated the centre’s transportation of children policy in March 2020.

She circulated the update to all employees and held a staff meeting about the changes, which Steers also attended.

But on the fateful day Mr Phillips said the checks were not carried out, a nominated checker was not allocated and Reynolds checked the child in via the app while en route to the centre.

During an interview with police, Reynolds said once they arrived back at the centre about 9am, she had been distracted by another parent.

Judge Michael Rackemann raised his concerns that Reynolds “falsely” checked the victim into the centre when she wasn’t supposed to and then signed off documents that indicated the checks had been completed when they were not done at all.

He also said because of these factors, he found it hard to give much weight to the ‘distraction’ factor.

The court heard the child was discovered by another employee who had driven the bus to a nearby primary school just before 3pm.

She immediately called the centre owner who was a registered nurse who instructed her to drive straight back so she could administer first aid because the hospital was too far away and the nearest ambulance was not manned 24/7.

“The quick thinking and appropriate intervention of the centre owner may have saved this young girl’s life,” Judge Michael Rackemann said.

The child suffered heatstroke, vomited twice and was having seizures when the Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics arrived at about 3.05pm.

She was admitted to hospital 30 minutes later and her temperature was 41 degrees.

The child’s temperature was still 38 degrees 10 hours after being rescued, and she was flown to Brisbane for specialist treatment.

SERIES OF EVENTS

• There are to be two people on the bus – a driver and a supervisor. Steers was rostered to be the driver. Mr Phillips said it was unknown why Ms Reynolds was on the bus.
• Both driver and supervisor were required to do headcounts as children entered and exited the bus throughout the journey; to walk around the bus, looking in through windows after the journey’s end to ensure no one was left behind, and then go inside the bus to check under seats as well.
• A nominated checker is also required to carry out the checks at the end of journeys.
• These checks need to be signed off.
• Once at the centre, children were ‘checked in’ via an app on a tablet device.
• If a parent straps their child into harnesses on the bus, a centre employee is required to double-check it before driving off.
• Mr Phillips said the checks were not carried out on May 4, a nominated checker was not allocated that day and Reynolds checked the child in via the app while en route to the centre.
• During an interview with police, Reynolds said once they arrived back at the centre about 9am that day, she had been distracted by another parent.
• Judge Michael Rackemann raised his concerns that Reynolds “falsely” checked the victim into the centre when she wasn’t supposed to and then signed off documents that indicated the checks had been completed when they were not done at all.
• He said because of these factors, he found it hard to give much weight to the ‘distraction’ factor.
• In this case, the victim child was discovered by another employee at the centre.
• They raised the alarm after having driven the bus to a nearby primary school that afternoon at about 2.45pm and upon the remote failing to lock the bus, noticed the sliding door ajar.
• When the employee went to slam the sliding door shut, the child victim’s pale and limp body was discovered, still strapped into the seat, eyes open but unresponsive.
• She immediately called the centre’s owner, a registered nurse who worked in the emergency department at Rockhampton Hospital and was instructed to drive straight back to the centre.
• The court heard the reason for this was the hospital was too far away and the nearest ambulance station was not manned 24/7 and the victim needed urgent medical attention.
• The centre’s owner met the bus at the centre, took the child out of the bus and administered first aid immediately inside – namely cooling their dehydrated body down.
• The victim, who suffered heatstroke, vomited twice and was having seizures when the Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics arrived at about 3.05pm.
• The child was admitted to hospital 30 minutes later and the victim’s temperature was still 41 degrees Celcius.
• “The quick thinking and appropriate intervention of the centre owner may have saved this young girl’s life,” Judge Michael Rackemann said.
• The child’s temperature was still 38 degrees 10 hours after being rescued, and she was flown to Brisbane for specialist treatment.