Health Services

 

In August, your child received a form entitled "Student Health and Emergency Information", it is very important that you complete both sides and return to your child's school as soon as possible. Please note that in an emergency every attempt will be made to contact parent(s)/guardian(s) first, but if we are unable to reach parent(s)/guardian(s) we will attempt to reach the other contacts listed on the form. This form contains important health information and emergency contacts for your child. It is important to remember that part of this form also includes permission for Tylenol administration, allowing your child to receive Tylenol during the school day after an assessment from the nurse. Click here for the online form.

Ways to stay healthy!

Simple steps can go a long way in keeping you well. Some ways to protect you and your loved ones include:

1.Wash your hands! Wash your hands frequently with soap and warm water. You should wash your hands before you: touch your face, mouth or eyes, eat, or prepare food. You should wash your hands after you go to the bathroom, cough, sneeze, or blow your nose, or after handling uncooked food or garbage, or use an item that is used by multiple people, such as computer keyboards. It takes roughly 20 seconds (or long enough for you to sing the ABC’s) to properly wash your hands.
2. Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing with a tissue, then throw the tissue away and wash your hands. If you need to cough/sneeze and are unable to use a tissue, cough/sneeze into the inside of your arm.
3. Do not take young children, immunocompromised people or chronically ill people into large crowds.
Avoid close contact (hugging, holding or kissing) with anyone who has a cold or the flu. If you wish to greet an acquaintance with a kiss, please avoid direct lip/lip contact, by kissing them on the cheek. Learn to respect personal space, and teach children to respect others personal space.
4. Stay home from school/work when you are sick. This helps prevent the spread of illnesses and no one benefits by having a sick classmate or co-worker with them. Please remember to call your child in sick everyday they will be out. The absent lines are 24 hour answering machines, so it’s ok to call at 2:00 AM when you are up with your sick child.
5. Do not share items, even with family members, such as drinking cups, eating utensils, straws.
6. Discourage use of “community snacks”. Sure that jars of candy looks good on the desk, but how many hands (and thereby germs) have touched the food you consume. Multi-servings bags of chips, should be served out of single serving plates, to avoid putting your hand to your mouth (thus potentially contaminating your hand), and reaching back into the bag of chips, which would then contaminate the entire bag!
7. Discourage children from “sucking” their thumbs/fingers.
8. Do not leave toothbrushes touching each other. Remember to replace your toothbrush after being ill. It is good practice to replace your toothbrush every 3-4 months.
9. Clean objects that are touched often, such as door knobs, faucet handles, refrigerator door handles, telephone, remote controls, and computer keyboards.
Do not share writing utensils. (They are frequently contaminated with each other’s germs, and have an uncanny way of gravitating towards faces.)
10. Think twice about the areas you frequent, are they able to disinfect certain play areas? Encourage your child to wash his/her hands frequently, especially after being in a “community” play space, such as gyms, shopping centers, libraries, any party play spaces or any place where the community congregates.
11. Practice “general good health” habits- get plenty of sleep, engage in physical activity, learn to manage your stress, eat a well balanced diet, wash your hands frequently and drink lots of water. Well hydrated students can think clearer and are less prone to headaches caused by dehydration. It is wise to encourage students to drink water throughout the day.

Mosquito Transmitted Illnesses

As you may be aware, there was a random mosquito sample taken from a Natick neighborhood last week (August 31, 2010) that was tested by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Arbovirus Division and tested positive for the West Nile Virus. The area has been sprayed and will be sprayed again Friday night (September 10, 2010). Listed below are some precautions recommended from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to help you minimize your risk of contracting a mosquito transmitted illness:

1. Schedule outdoor events to avoid the hours between dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active.

2. When you are outdoors, wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt and socks. This may be difficult to do when the weather is hot, but it will help keep mosquitoes away from your skin.

3. Use a repellent with DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide), permethrin, picaridin (KBR 3023), IR3535 (3-[N-butyl-N-acetyl]-aminopropionic acid) or oil of lemon eucalyptus [p-menthane 3, 8-diol (PMD)] according to the instructions on the product label.

a. DEET products should not be used on infants under two months of age and should be used in concentrations of 30% or less on older children.

b. Oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under three years of age.

c. Permethrin products are intended for use on items such as clothing, shoes, bed nets and camping gear and should not be applied to skin.

d. More information on choosing and using repellents safely is included in the MDPH Fact Sheet on Mosquito Repellents which can be viewed on-line at www.mass.gov/dph. If you can't go on-line, contact the MDPH at (617) 983-6800 for a hard copy.

4. Keep mosquitoes out of your house by repairing any holes in your screens and making sure they are tightly attached to all your doors and windows.

5. Remove areas of standing water around your home (rain gutters, drains, buckets, toys, bird baths, pool covers)

The Natick Board of Health is working closely with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and other agencies, such as the Central Mass Mosquito Project , to apply appropriate larvicides and provide education to the community.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Fact Sheet on West Nile Virus

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Fact Sheet on Mosquito Repellents

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Fact Sheet on EEE (Eastern Equine Encephalitits)

Height and Weight/BMI Screening:

Schools in Massachusetts are now mandated by Massachusetts General Laws to obtain heights and weights on students in grades 1, 4, 7 and 10. Heights/weights/BMI screenings will be done at the elementary, middle schools and high school in November and December. If you would like your child to be exempt from the Massachusetts mandated screenings, you should provide the nurse at your child's school a written request to exempt your child.

Postural Screening:

Public Schools in the state of Massachusetts are required annually to screen students in grades 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 for postural screening. It is advisable that female students wear a bathing suit top and/or halter top on the date they will be screened to allow for visualization of the entire spine. Postural Screening @ NHS will take place for all 9th grade students (who are taking PE Class), in January and February, 2014 during PE class. (The exact dates are January 8th and February dates to be determined.) Postural Screening at Wilson and Kennedy Middle School are to be announced. If you would like your child to be exempt from the Massachusetts mandated screenings, you should provide the nurse at your child's school a written request to exempt your child.