Guest Column from the Moffat County School District

 

Bulldog Bark: Keeping Kids Healthy at School

 

Fall is a season of sniffles.

 

The season itself tends to be a little more viral on its own, but it’s inevitable when you get hundreds of youngsters together at a time that there’s going to be some gunk going around.

 

There’s only so much you can do to protect against that, but rest assured, Moffat County School District does what it can. The health team and custodial teams have an extra responsibility this time of year, and, fortunately, the Bulldogs crew is up to the task.

 

Amber Hampton is MCSD’s new District Nurse. Her job, along with her team of health techs, is to identify potential hotspots for illness activity and then to give classrooms and schools the best chance to avoid as much spread as possible. For example, when some suspected cases of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease cropped up in some of our elementary schools, Nurse Hampton was in charge of addressing that and finding a way to minimize the event.

 

“We don’t want to create panic where there shouldn’t be panic,” Hampton said. “But we need to be monitoring.”

 

Hampton’s team doesn’t diagnose, but in partnership with the medical community and county health, there’s a lot of information available that can help keep kids healthy.

 

“We’ll send out notifications when necessary,” Hampton said. “It’s a collaborative decision with the superintendent to say we’re at that notification threshold.”

 

Last month, three or more documented cases in a single classroom triggered a letter home to classroom families to help educate them, for example. But letting parents know is not the only action taken. The custodial team gets involved as well.

 

“Communication with leadership and with Amber is unparalleled,” said facilities director Robert Miller. “We know about the first case. That’s when we go into our ‘QT-3’ product. That kills Hand Foot and Mouth and other viruses. We hit the high-touch spots and we use it as a daily cleaner until we feel the outbreak is behind us. It’s at least double the effort for our custodians. It’s deep cleans like we’d usually only do during the summer time. But we’re trying to make sure we don’t have an outbreak or any more sick students.”

 

That means maximizing the resources of the custodial crew to push energy into the classes and schools that might have this need.

 

However, it’s important to remember that privacy is part of the equation. What to say and when to say it is a critical consideration.

 

“Health techs know what they’re looking for, if they see signs of, say Hand Foot and Mouth, they’ll send the student home,” Hampton said. “We’re not diagnosing at the school level, and we’re not telling everybody, ‘Hey this is Hand Foot and Mouth’ or whatever it might or might not be. We have to protect students’ health rights as well as educational privacy rights. We shouldn’t be broadcasting information that needs to be confidential.”

 

In all, it takes sensitivity, discretion, and wise but quick movement to ensure the maximum students and staff avoid catching something that might be (and this time of year often is) going around. But Moffat County School District’s team is up to the task, and is working hard to ensure kids and families are as healthy as they can be.