I've been thinking about this since yesterday. It's not something I experienced in my class, but something my daughter was a witness to in her class. The whole incident got me thinking about CPR and first aid training for teachers and other school staff.
Here's the thing: My daughter was in class yesterday morning doing a review for an upcoming quiz. A classmate began acting strangely, as if he were falling asleep (and moving as if in slow motion). All of a sudden, he went rigid, then began to shake and convulse at his desk. (You guessed it: seizure.) The teacher sent a student to the nurse's office because she wasn't sure of what to do. (FYI: You don't move a person having a seizure unless you are trying to get them onto the ground to lessen the risk of injury from a fall, don't put anything in the person's mouth, move all surrounding furniture and objects away from the person, put something under the person's head to lessen injury, don't try to hold them still, and be sure to time the length of the episode.) In the meantime, before the nurse got to the room, the seizure passed and the student came out of it. He didn't know what happened and couldn't understand why everyone was looking so worried. The teacher put a student in charge and walked the affected student down to the nurse as a precaution; they actually met the nurse in the hallway. When the teacher returned, she told the class what happened, as some of them hadn't figured it out. She also told the students the child was going home and to use tact if they spoke about it.
My daughter was still quite upset about it once she got home and was retelling us (my husband and me) about what happened. After she recounted the events and we calmed her a bit, I kept wondering to myself about the teacher's response that she didn't know what to do. Could it have been a momentary spasm of panic? Or did she truly not know what to do? Which got me thinking: Why aren't teachers trained in CPR and First Aid?
Think about it. We oversee many students in a day's time: in class, on the playground, on field trips, during field day. Not to mention all of the evening events for parents. I know most schools have a nurse; some have a nurse practitioner. And I dare say there are a few schools that have no medical personnel. That one nurse or other medical professional (if you have one) is on call for all students in the building. What happens if that person is tending to another crisis? Or out of the building (with no sub)? Or your building has no such person? Shouldn't we as other school staff be trained so we know what to do in these instances?
Most schools do give the Epipen training, as well as what to look for if you have a diabetic or asthmatic student, or a student with severe allergies. But what about those students who are under the radar and don't know they have a particular medical condition or have a medical emergency happen to them for the first time (as in the case of the student in my daughter's class)? As a parent of a child with asthma and a child with severe allergies, that concerns me.
I know most districts are cash-strapped and cannot pay for their entire school staff to be trained. But there are some facilities that offer the course over a weekend. Check your local fire department, nursing school, hospital, or local branch of the American Heart Association. Certification lasts for two years.
I actually had my CPR and first aid training as part of the employment requirement to work in the student home for underprivileged children. (For those of you that aren't aware, it's a part-time job I have outside of teaching. Check the post "I'm So Ashamed" on my other blog.) Since it is a live-in position for the weekends I am there, I am the first point of emergency contact for those children, much like being the first point of contact for an injured student.
What do you think? Should teachers and other school staff be trained in CPR and first aid? Does your district offer any incentives for staff that have been trained? Does your school keep a list of people on staff who have been trained?
No comments:
Post a Comment