H1N1 Update BGCDSB
Bruce Grey Catholic District School Board
H1N1 Preparedness Planning 2009/2010
Update: October 28, 2009
This is also available as an Acrobat File
The Bruce Grey Catholic District School Board has been proactive in planning and preparing for a possible H1N1 Pandemic..
Planning for a possible pandemic during the 2009/2010 school year began in August, when Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hazel Lynn met with the Directors of Education for the Bluewater and Bruce Grey Catholic District School Boards. . It was established that the Health Unit will be working with the school boards to provide timely and accurate information to families through school newsletters, take-home flyers, etc. The school board will continue to follow the lead and direction of the Public Health Unit. All communication will be shared with Principals, who in turn will ensure that staff, students, and parents receive frequent updates.
Posters were prepared and sent to all schools outlining proper handwashing techniques and healthy practices to assist in prevention of the spread of the disease. Hand Sanitizer was installed in all schools. Planning for surveillance of illness and absenteeism were formulated under the direction of the Health Unit. On August 28th, the Ministry of Health & Long Term Care released Guidelines for the Prevention & Management of pH1N1 in Schools. The guidelines were shared with principals as they included information that could be shared with staff, students and parents, and reviewed to ensure that all preventative measures had been taken.
The Supervisor of Maintenance has communicated to custodial staff the importance of frequent cleaning of high traffic areas, and will facilitate open communication regarding needs and issues as they arise in the schools.
On September 21st, we began daily tracking and reporting of absenteeism for the Public Health Unit. Secretaries were provided with a script to identify the reason for the absence. Schools will also report this information to the CEC daily in order for the board to closely monitor absenteeism.
Beginning Thursday, October 29, we will be submitting a weekly pH1N1 Report to the regional office of the Ministry of Education to report absentee rates greater than 10%.~ Some of the information in the Weekly pH1N1 Board Report is the same as the information that schools are reporting to our District Health Unit.~ The Boards are asked to provide this information to the Ministry of Education so that both Ministries have regularly updated information about pH1N1 outbreaks in schools across the province. It is expected that we will continue collecting and reporting the information on a weekly basis for the influenza season.
The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care has also provided a recommended checklist for Schools and School Boards. The checklists will be reviewed regularly to ensure that we continue to be proactive in preparing for a possible pandemic..
All updates received from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education will be shared with Principals as they arrive. In addition, we will provide a weekly updates to principals and staff. Principals are encouraged to continually inform staff, students and parents of all updates, and to actively encourage practices to prevent the spread of infections within the schools.
The BGCDSB has a Pandemic Preparedness Plan which outlines steps to be taken should a pandemic be declared. The Plan includes formation of a special Operations Committee, who would make up the membership of this committee, a detailed Daily Operational Mode that would be implemented, and Communications Strategies. The actions described in the Plan will only be implemented in the event that a Pandemic is declared. The Pandemic Preparedness Plan is available on our website at www.bgcdsb.org
We will continue to encourage practices to prevent the spread of infections, and to closely monitor daily absenteeism.
All staff, students and parents are encouraged to review the Boards Pandemic Preparedness Plan, as well as visit the Grey Bruce Health Unit website for more information on H1N1.
http://www.publichealthgreybruce.on.ca/
Any questions or concerns related to H1N1 and the Preparedness Plans can be directed to Doreen Rogers, Community Relations and Outreach Coordinator.
Doreen Rogers
Community Relations & Outreach Coordinator
Bruce Grey Catholic District School Board
799 16th Ave.
Hanover, On
N4N 3A1
519-364-5820 X267
Doreen_Rogers@bgcdsb.org
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