nurse bearWelcome to the Health Office

Cindy Taylor, Health Assistant, 472-3570, is in our Health Office during school hours. She is available to assist students with illness and injury related problems. The goal of Health Services is to remove barriers to the health and safety of students, enabling them to achieve their academic goals at school.

ILLNESS/EMERGENCY

School is no place for a sick child. Please do not send your child to school if he/she has had a fever, rash, diarrhea, vomiting, deep cough, or a communicable disease such as chickenpox, strep throat, head lice, pink-eye, etc. in the last 24 hours. You will be notified if your child becomes ill enough to be removed from school, sustains more than a minor injury, or has an emergency. It is the parent's responsibility to make arrangements to pick up an ill or injured child as promptly as possible. We suggest that you have someone listed on your Emergency Data Sheet in case you are not available or cannot leave work.

Flu Season

To find out about Mesa Public Schools policies and procedures for dealing with the H1N1 Flu Virus refer to http://www2.mpsaz.org/beprepared/h1n1 .

EMERGENCY MEDICAL INFORMATION

It is imperative that you notify the health office if your child has a medical condition such as diabetes, seizure disorder, asthma, heart disease, allergies, (environmental and food), a physical or mental disability, etc. This will help all the school staff better serve your child. This information should be placed on the emergency section of the data sheet also. This is used to contact a child's parent in case of illness or injury so they must be returned immediately.

IMMUNIZATIONS

ARIZONA STATE LAW ARS 15-803 states that children must have immunization (shot) information on file at school. It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to furnish the school with the month, day, and year of each immunization and to make sure the child receives any needed immunizations before they are allowed to attend school.

MPS Health Office Parent Page has information about free immunization clinics and school requirements.

MESA SCHOOL DISTRICT MEDICATION POLICY

Under certain unusual circumstances when it is necessary for a child to take medication during school hours, the following requirements must be met:

1. Prescription medication must be in the original container with a non-expired presciption label and current directions.

2. Over-the-counter medications must be in the original container with directions. Please have any medication you child may need on hand in the Health Office.

3. Appropriate dosage including age as stated on the label will be dispensed.

4. A permission medication consent form must be signed by the parent/guardian to administer medication to the child. This includes administering Tylenol for a headache.

5. Dosage amount, time, dates to be given and name of medication must be stated.

6. We recommend that all medication be brought to and picked up from school by a parent/guardian or another responsible adult. Students should not be carrying any type of medication on them while at school. All meds need to be kept in the Health Office.

7. It is recommended that when you get a prescription filled that needs to be given during school hours that you have the pharmacists label two bottles and send the appropriate one to school. (This is usually free.) This is especially important with liquid medicines that have to be refrigerated like antibiotics. Medications that are given 3 times a day need to be given before and after school.

8. Medications brought to school and not meeting necessary requirements will not be dispensed by the health office and will be locked in the office until a parent/guardian signs the proper form or takes it home.

PLEASE NOTIFY THE HEALTH OFFICE OF ANY HOME, WORK, OR EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS THAT CHANGE ON YOUR CHILD'S EMERGENCY DATA SHEET.