The nurses in US schools (I've been out for 15 years, things may be different now) are mostly there if a kid gets a bloody nose, deals with a kid's allergic reaction, verify a sudden extreme temperature to dismiss the kid or generally stabilize before a paramedic arrives if it's serious. In high school, one kid cracked his head open on the gym floor from slipping while playing indoor soccer. Pretty much all she could do was slow the bleeding. Plus, school nurse isnt a cert nurse's first pick in jobs. Which I dont blame them. Who would want to deal with kids all day trying to fake sickness so they can skip class? A simple cough and low fever wouldn't get you out of class. You needed head lice, vomit 3 times within 1 hour, vomit blood, or a 101f fever to get out of class back in my day... or a cracked skull.
But "infirmary"... it's a $25 first aid kit (at best) and like 2 EpiPens. I carry a better medical kit in the trunk of my car just because I like being prepared.
Well, all of those things happened in my school too, including cracking my head open such that I had to go to a hospital's e.r. unit.
All of it was done by normal teachers that would otherwise teach history or geography and simply had taken a first aid course. I do not have a trained nurse at home either, and I can just as easily be hurt so to crack my head open there, dare I say more easily.
Not arguing with you. The whole school nurse thing is more for legality and insurance issues (I imagine). As a kid, I always thought the school nurse was borderline useless. The only thing I can see as being useful, a school nurse knowing how to perform a tracheotomy. Not something I expect a run of the mill teacher (or average person) can do. There's a relatively high peanut allergy rate in the USA amongst children due to our seriously flawed food knowledge and habits. Perhaps school nurses here do know how to do that well, amongst other "seconds matter" care before paramedics are needed. Though, I can't confirm or deny if they do.
But "infirmary"... it's a $25 first aid kit (at best) and like 2 EpiPens. I carry a better medical kit in the trunk of my car just because I like being prepared.