Heath Services
Kaleida Health CLINIC
Illness during school:
The Health Office is available for students who are ill. If a student becomes suddenly ill after reporting to class, please call the clinic and let them know you are sending them to the clinic with a clinic pass. All students will sign in on the clinic log, noting the time of arrival. If the student is not ill enough to be sent home, the student will send the student back to class with a signed and time-noted copy of the clinic pass. The NURSE will notify the parents and a note in the daily planner should be noted by the teacher. Under no circumstance will the clinic accept students between classes? If the student has a fever of 100 F or higher or is vomiting, the parents will be called and the child will be sent home
Medications
A student should not be carrying medications with them in their personal, backpack, or locker at any time. This includes Tylenol, Motrin, and cough drops. The only exception to this rule is physician-ordered inhalers, and epi-pens for allergic reactions, once the physician's order is on file in the Clinic. Students whose physicians deem it necessary for the student to have medication in school must send a written order from the physician and parental permission along with the medication in a labeled container to the Clinic, and administer it as directed.
Sick Child Guidelines for Parents
If your child gets sick, it is often most appropriate to keep him/her home from school. A child who is sick will not be able to perform well in school and is likely to spread the illness to other children and staff. Please make arrangements for childcare ahead of time so you will not be caught without a place for your child to stay if he/she is ill.
Our school policy states that you should not send your child to school if he/she has:
Fever in the past 24 hours
Vomiting in the past 24 hours
Diarrhea in the past 24 hours
Chills
Sore throat
Strep Throat (must have been taking an antibiotic for at least 24 hours before returning to school).
Bad cold, with a very runny nose or bad cough, especially if it has kept the child awake at night.
Head lice - unless they have been treated according to the nurse or doctor’s instructions.
If your child becomes ill at school and the teacher or school nurse feels the child is too sick to benefit from school or is contagious to other children, you will be called to come and take him/her home from school. It is essential that your child’s teacher have a phone number where you can be contacted during the day and an emergency number in the event you cannot be reached. Please be sure that arrangements can be made to transport your child home from school and that childcare is available in case of illness. If your daytime or emergency phone number changes during the year, please notify your child’s teacher immediately.
These guidelines are meant to serve the best interests of all the children in our school.
HEAD LICE
To Parents: If your child comes home with head lice, don’t panic. Millions of school children contract head lice each year. Children play in close contact with each other. A simple exchange of hats, clothing, brushes, combs, and other personal articles can result in the transmission of head lice from one child to another. Lice can be easily and effectively treated. You should ask your pharmacist for an effective head lice shampoo or ask your doctor for advice.
Please send the box top from the head lice shampoo back to school with your child as proof of treatment, along with a short note describing the treatment.
Check all members of the family for lice and their eggs. Lice are small grayish-tan wingless insects. Lice lay eggs called nits.
Nits are firmly attached to the hair shafts, close to the scalp, and are much easier to see than live lice. They are small white specks which are usually found at the nape of the neck and behind the ears.
Apply the lice treatment to all infected family members, following instructions carefully.
After shampooing, remove the nits with a fine-tooth comb (nib combs come with some head lice shampoos). Application of warm water with vinegar (1:1) or clear warm water may help nit removal. Nits may need to be removed by using your fingernails or tweezers.
Use hot water and detergent to wash sheets, pillowcases, and clothing (at least 20 minutes).
Hot dry or dry clean blankets, bedspreads, hats, and sleeping bags; or seal in a plastic trash bag for at least two weeks.
Soak combs and brushes, headbands, and barrettes in the treatment shampoo or hot water for at least 10 minutes or wash in the dishwasher.
Thoroughly vacuum carpets, upholstery, pillows, and mattresses and discard vacuum cleaner bags.
Bike helmets, headphones, and stuffed animals should be placed in a plastic bag and tied for 10 days.
WHEN TO KEEP A CHILD HOME
WITH ILLNESS DURING COLD AND FLU SEASON
Sometimes it can be difficult for a parent to decide whether to send children to school when they wake up with early symptoms of an illness or complaints that they do not feel well. In general, during cold and flu season, unless your child is significantly ill, the best place for them is in school where they have all already been exposed to the same germs and where they are less likely to expose other more vulnerable people, like the very young or very old, to their routine bouts of cold and flu. Remind and show your children to discard used tissues promptly, not to share personal items, to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze, to keep their hands away from their face, and to wash hands thoroughly and often with soap and warm water. Suggest that they silently sing the Happy Birthday song twice while washing their hands. However, there are some situations in which it is best to plan on keeping your child home for a day to rest or to arrange for an appointment with your healthcare provider. The following are a few such situations that warrant watching and possibly conferring with your healthcare provider:
Persistent fever greater than 100.4° orally, including a fever that requires control with medication, like Tylenol
The child is too sleepy or ill from an illness, like vomiting and/or diarrhea, to profit from sitting in class all day
Significant cough that makes a child feel uncomfortable or disrupts the class
Sore throat that is severe, accompanied by fever and/or feeling ill, that persists longer than 48 hours, OR after known exposure to a confirmed case of Streptococcal throat infection
Honey-crusted sores around the nose or mouth or rash on other body parts that might be impetigo; OR a rash in various stages including boils, sores and bumps that may be chicken pox; OR a significant rash accompanied by other symptoms of illness such as fever
Red, runny eyes distract the child from learning
A large amount of discolored nasal discharge, especially if accompanied by facial pain or headache
Severe ear pain or drainage from the ear
Severe headache, especially if accompanied by fever
Any condition that you think may be serious or contagious to others.
Whenever there is an outbreak of a specific contagious infection, the school sends out a notice to alert you to watch out for any symptoms. If your child starts to develop symptoms, it is important that you alert your own healthcare provider that your child had possible exposure. Be sure to ask your provider when it is safe for your child to return to school, both for your child’s health and for the health of the rest of the school. If you send your child to school even though you suspect there is a significant illness as described above, please call the school nurse to provide her/him with phone numbers where you can be reached that day should your child become more ill and require early dismissal.
Finally, if you know your child is still running a fever, it is not a good idea simply to give them Tylenol and send them to school because as soon as the medicine wears off, you are apt to get the dreaded call from the school nurse to leave work and come to pick up your feverish child. It is better to let them stay home in bed with a fever and take their medications at home until they are off all medicines and ready to learn for a full day in a classroom. If you find a pattern of your child’s asking to stay home from school, especially if they are falling behind or appear anxious by the thought of attending school, or if there does not appear to be any obvious physical symptoms, it may be a good idea to contact your school nurse and your health care provider to discuss your concerns. Remember, whenever you keep your child home from school, please call the school nurse or attendance office in advance of the start of the school day and leave a message that your child will be absent.