I am just looking for information here. How many of you allow your child to ride the bus to and from school, and how many of them carry their epipen? If your child does ride the bus, does the bus driver know how to use the epipen? If not, what is the plan in case of a reaction? Are you satisfied with what your school district provides? I am aware of the laws around this, the school district is responsible for ensuring the students' safety to and from school, I just know that in our district, this issue has been largely ignored (I am a school nurse). It is over my head; I can only advise, but beyond that it is up to the administrators. The bus company we have a contract with will not train their drivers to use an epipen, which I think is wrong, personally, if they are transporting children, but again, that is beyond my control. I'm just looking to see what other places around the country do.
The other question is around handwashing. Do your schools require all students to wash their hands after meals?
Thanks for any information you can share with me!
My 8 yo son rides the bus to school. The District requires that their is no eating on the bus at all. This came about becuase last year another boy in my sons grade had a reaction after getting off of the bus. When his mom met him at the stop, she thought his eyes looked glazed, by the time they walked home his eyelids had swolen shut.
My son does not carry his epi, and their is not one on the bus. His ride is 5 minutes, and I am comfortable with him being with out it for that period of time.
I am not sure if hand washing is mandatory after the children eat or not.
Thank you Cristy.
My son does not ride the bus. I told the Super at the 504 eligibility meeting that I would provide my son's transportation to and from school (he seemed very relieved). He does ride the bus for field trips. There is not supposed to be food eaten and his teacher has his epi-pen (unless she forgets, like she did one time).
During that same meeting the Super and the Principal agreed that all students would wash their hands after lunch regardless what is on the menu. He said it would be good for my son and hygiene reasons. I was relieved. It has worked good so far for us.
I asked my son tonight if everyone washed their hands after they ate, he said no. There is a bathroom they could use to wash there hands though. I am not very thrilled with the fact that they do not all wash up.
I started thinking about all the kids who eat crustables then go play on the playground...or open the doors, etc. Then I asked him if they always had crustables. His answer surprised me...Yes, except when they have PB&J on buns. I had been told that the only PB they offered was in the crustables. So now I am worried about the kids hands and the knives used to prepare the sandwiches.
Thanks for the responses; Cristy, I'm sorry if my question caused you more worry! I'm only asking because we do not require all students to wash hands after lunch, only the ones in the same class with our PA/TNA students. We have not had a problem so far. His mom is concerned (understandably), but the problem is our school is used evenings for community events, and other families in the area use the playground after school. I've also put this question out to the other school nurses in my state to get information on what they do.
Thanks again to both ladies for responding!
Yes, my dd rides the bus and the bus driver is given her epi pens every day. Unfortunately, the bus driver has never been trained on how to use them or the signs/symptoms of anaphylaxis, which I recently found out, but I am working to change. I believe this should be part of the annual training or inservicing of all school staff, or any adult in charge during the school day.
DD's class washes their hands after lunch and snacks, but not the rest of the school. I am somewhat comfortable with this process. It's at least reducing the risk of a contact reaction where she spends most of her time during the school day.
Our child rides the bus, the bus driver is epi-pen trained (yearly), and he has an assigned seat (1st seat opposite the driver). Our son wears his epi-pen in a belt around his waist. The driver wipes down his seat ever morning. Emergency Action Plan is on the bus. District policy is no food eaten on the bus. Emergency procedure is to stop the bus, call 911, and admoinister epi if necessary. This is all documented in his 504 plan.
Hope this helps.
Thank you both for your responses!