The Virtual Health Office at Monument Valley is Open
Dear Families of W.E.B. Du Bois,
I hope this email finds you well. I am very much looking forward to meeting your children. Just a quick reminder that if I haven’t received your child(ren)s most recent updated wellness/immunization records, please have them sent to me.
Please have your children review these 3 videos and I encourage you to have a conversation with your child regarding these important health practices.
For your viewing pleasure the videos are titled Washing Your Hands, Wearing Cloth Face Coverings, and Staying Home When you are Sick.
https://www.nasn.org/nasn/nasn-resources/practice-topics/covid19/nasn-return-to-school-video-series
Also, please talk to your child regarding when he/she should visit the school nurse. Sometimes, children may need a class room or mask break and they report they are unwell. It is important they are clear about their needs. If a child reports COVID symptoms, you will get a phone call to come and pick up your child as soon as possible.
Our goal is to keep our community safe and healthy. The basic public health principles of social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing can prevail if consistently applied. It is incumbent upon each of us to hold ourselves personally responsible for our own behavior. And to that end, we have a collective responsibility and social compact with one another to strive for a healthy return to school for our students and staff.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Be Well,
Hilary
Hilary Bashara, RN
W.E.B. Du Bois Middle School
313 Monument Valley Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Phone/Fax – (413)644-2324/644-2394
Dear Monument Valley Families,
As we stay physically distanced, we continue to stay connected socially by networking. I hope you are all staying healthy and safe. We don’t have the routine of normal school days, but I am here for any health concerns and questions you may have. Please email hilary.bashara@bhrsd.org and we can either communicate by email or I can arrange to call you at a convenient time for you. I can help assess illness or injury symptoms and then the next steps to take. I will get back to you within 24 hours. I will also help with any resources you may need help getting with food, household needs and medicine.
Keep your immune system healthy by eating well, staying hydrated, getting good amounts of sleep and exercise, and finding time to smile and laugh. You can start with this quick video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXKD74XJ100 ‘Why Don’t We Do it in Our Sleeves?’
There is already a lot of valuable COVID-19 information posted on our school website, so I am just adding a few more resources you may want to know.
1) Current Office information for MACONY and CHP Medical Practices (updated below)
2) Pharmacy information for free prescription delivery (below)
3) Two good MA sites – Buoy for direct Covid-19 symptom concerns and information, and the 211 Help Center (below)
4) Link to a physician’s tips for cleaning your groceries and take out food:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKx-F4AKteE
5) P-EBT benefits (new 4/23)
For all Massachusetts families with school aged children who qualify for free and reduced price school meals. You will be getting a letter in the mail from DTA in May. If you do not get a letter in the mail and your child received free or reduced price school meals, contact Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline at (800) 645-8333 (TTY 800-377-1292). Households will receive $5.70 per eligible student per day, or $28.50 a week. If receiving DTA benefits, your P-EBT benefits will be added to your EBT card. If not actively receiving DTA benefits, you will receive a P-EBT card for each eligible student in your household.
6) A podcast from Lynn Lyons, a family therapist who is really down to earth in her approach. This is the most recent podcast for families and stress, emotions during this pandemic time:
7) A comic verse that says it all … below
Pediatrician Office Operations During COVID19
Macony Pediatrics
All staff at Macony Pediatrics are wearing protective masks at all times.
Well Visits:The only well patient visits are for those who need immunizations. All other well patient visits are on hold. Well Visits are only scheduled in the mornings.
The office is closed for the lunch hour so staff can thoroughly clean the office.
Sick Visits
As much as possible, sick visits will be handled with Telemedicine. For patients who need to be seen in person
- Call when you arrive.
- Stay in your car until you see a staff member come to the door.
- You will be met at the door and given a mask to wear.
Patients/families can always call the nurse triage line 7a-7p, 7 days/week: 855-BMC-LINK.
CHP
CHP is providing Telehealth and telephone services for established patients two years and older
who do not need to be seen in the office. This includes some sick visits and some follow-up
visits. Telehealth is being conducted over Zoom, FaceTime, and Doximity. Click here to learn
how CHP’s Telehealth service works.
Only certain sick visits will be seen in the office, so please call before coming to the office.
Pediatric well child visits for newborns up to 6 months of age are being conducted in our CHP
VAN on Tuesday and Thursday. An appointment is needed, so please contact the office to
schedule.
Parking lot tent care is being provided for patients who need INR, blood pressure checks,
allergy shots, and immunizations.
No COVID-19 testing is currently being offered at CHP.
CHP TeleHealth
1. Patient must have a computer, iPad, smart phone with working camera and
microphone.
2. Appointment is scheduled either by patient or CHP.
3. One day before or the day of, a medical assistant will contact patient to get intake
information and review medications, allergies, and current symptoms. The patient will
also be asked to provide an email address so a link to the online appointment can be
sent.
4. On the day of the appointment, the medical assistant will contact patient 15 to 20
minutes before the scheduled time. This allows opportunity to troubleshoot any device
or connectivity issues prior to meeting with Clinician.
5. If follow up is needed, CHP will call back to set up the next appointment
Pharmacy Information:
Big Y Pharmacies offer free delivery during this current time. Great Barrington 413.528.1314; Lee 413.243.3201
CVS offers free delivery of prescriptions + other items can be added in – recommend signing up for this online at cvs.com or call 413.528.2860 for the Great Barrington store, or 413.499.3430 for the Lenox store (the phone option will take longer to set up delivery)
Walgreens has free delivery; Great Barrington store 413.528.2424; Lee store 413.243.2402
Price Chopper has curb side pick up, but NO delivery option (aside from Instacart which is overwhelmed right now) 413.528.2408 in GB
Lenox Village Pharmacy has free delivery of prescriptions, OTC meds and supplies. 413.637.4700 (M-Fri). Also offers curbside pickup
Worried about symptoms? Feeling ill and unsure what to do?
Buoy helps Massachusetts residents assess symptoms and find the right care. Click on the Buoy symptom checker:
for more information. Española disponible.
Mass 211 is the centralized hub for comprehensive information about, and referral to, the complete spectrum of services in Massachusetts that address the social determinants of healthy lives and communities. Call 2-1-1 or use their website mass 211.org (if you don’t want to wait on hold). Free, confidential and multilingual.
Patricia Harper RN, School Nurse
Du Bois Regional Middle School
313 Monument Valley Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Phone/Fax – (413)644-2324/644-2394
Health Office Overview:
The Du Bois Health Office/School Nurse is here to support both the health and education of students. The goal is to foster the growth, development and educational achievement of all students through promotion of health and wellness by: providing first aid, emergency treatment, intervention and referral for physical, psychological, social‐emotional and behavioral issues; administering direct care for special medical needs; monitoring health status and administering screening programs to identify health concerns; building partnerships to ensure referral to quality services that are effective, culturally appropriate and responsive to the diverse and changing needs of our students and their families.
Each year in grades 5-8 a range of issues may affect the health of your child: increased pressures on families, ongoing public health concerns such as infectious diseases, bullying, head injuries and emotional health concerns. An emphasis is put on listening to concerns a student has and then guiding students to adopt healthy life style choices; these everyday healthy behavior choices affect how they feel in the moment as well as impact their future well-being.
In addition to the daily care provided to students with special needs and routine interventions for first aid, illness and physical and emotional concerns, the school nurse perform vision, hearing, height and weight and postural screening for scoliosis.
Please see important fact sheets below, and contact Mrs. Harper with any questions.
Phone/Fax – (413)644-2324/644-2394
You cannot educate an unhealthy child and you cannot keep an uneducated child healthy…”
Dr. Jocelyn Elders, Former Secretary of Health
Contact Information: Patricia Harper RN, School Nurse
Du Bois Regional Middle School
313 Monument Valley Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230
If your child needs medications while at school, please follow this link and print the form:
BHRSD Medication Order and Consent Form
BHRSD ALLERGY ACTION PLAN
Seasonal Flu Information
According to the CDC and the MA Department of Public Health, the most important way to protect against flu viruses is to get the vaccination every year.
How Flu Spreads:
People with the flu virus can spread it to others from a distance up to 6 feet away. The virus travels in droplets made when we cough, sneeze and talk. These droplets find their way into the mouths and noses of others nearby, or can be breathed directly into the lungs. Also (but less common) the virus can be on a surface like a doorknob that is touched, and the virus then travels from hands to noses and mouths.
It is so important to wash hands with soap/water, and to make sure that if you are ill with a flu virus that you stay home and away from others. The flu is contagious – You may transmit the virus to others before you even feel sick yourself – from 1 day before illness symptoms begin up to 7 days after actually feeling sick. Children can pass along viruses even longer.
The best way to prevent getting the Flu is to get the annual Flu vaccine.
Best resource for flu information and to monitor how prevalent flu activity is : www.CDC.gov/flu
When to Keep Your Child Home from School
Your child should not attend school if:
|
Head Lice Information
From the Du Bois Health Office Head Lice Information for Parents
At the beginning of school each year school nurses are often questioned when there is a case of head lice found at home or at school. Parents want to know how to rid their child of lice as quickly as possible, and want to make sure they won’t “get it again.” It would be so wonderful if it were as simple as giving parents a correct answer explaining what shampoo to use, but it is just not that easy…
Head lice live on the heads of school children in all climates, cultures and living conditions. The lice are passed from one person to another during direct head-to-head contact. Children whispering secrets at school or family members hugging at home provide head lice with the ideal opportunity to travel from one head to the next. Indirect spread through contact with personal belongings such as combs, brushes, or hats is much less likely. Head lice are not a sign of poor hygiene or dirty living conditions. They are not an illness or the cause of any serious illness. They are an itchy nuisance infestation of bugs and their eggs (nits) and require a treatment program that can be tedious, time consuming and annoying.
What to Look For: The LICE (live bugs) live in human hair (only humans-not pets) and feed on the blood from the scalp. The bugs are light brown/grayish in color, and are the size of a single sesame seed. They cannot fly or jump; they can only crawl. They spread from head to head primarily by direct contact. Rarely do they spread in any other way, since bugs that leave the head or fall off are sick and/or injured and so will not survive more than 48 hours at most.
Lice lay their eggs at the base of the hair in sacs called NITS that are attached to the hair shaft. As the hair grows away from the scalp, the nit grows along with it. The nits are tiny, whitish-gray oval eggs. Since they hatch in 7 to 10 days, nits that are further away from the scalp are likely to have already hatched.
What Parents can do to eliminate and prevent head lice: Perform head checks on your child if they are scratching their scalp, or if you suspect exposure. Look for lice/nits carefully in good light, and look over the entire hair/head area (lice/nits can be difficult to spot, especially in the early stages of infestation). Pediculicides are special insecticide products registered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat lice. Most over-the-counter (OTC) pediculicides contain pyrethrins (extracts of chrysanthemum flowers) or a synthetic equivalent. Used as directed on the package, these products can be effective at killing lice. A repeat treatment, about 7-10 days after the first, is almost always needed. Some lice, however, are resistant to OTC products. If live lice are seen the day after the second treatment, parents should call a pediatrician to discuss other kinds of pediculicides available only by prescription.
When used according to their directions, pediculicides offer very little risk to children or adults. The main risks from pediculicides (and from virtually any medicine) come from gross overuse of the product, so read the labels carefully and follow the directions. If in doubt, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Avoid treatments that are not FDA-registered pediculicides. Alternative products are an option, but may tend to be sold on the basis of testimonials rather than objective testing of their effectiveness and safety.
Nits should be carefully and thoroughly removed from the hair using a fine-tooth lice/nit comb. Nits are glued to the scalp and hair shaft. Unlike dandruff, they will not fall away when you flick the hair, which is one way to distinguish nits from dandruff.
- Items that touch the child’s hair (combs, headbands, hats, linens) should be laundered or placed in a hot dryer cycle. Carpeting, car seats, and upholstery should be vacuumed to pick up hair that may have nits attached. Do not use lice sprays.
- Continue daily head checks for nits and lice for 2 weeks, and then on a regular basis at home. Routine head checks are especially encouraged after sleepovers, campouts, and close contact get-togethers. Have your child bring their own pillow, blanket to any sleep-away events.
- Other household members and close contacts should be checked for lice, but not treated “just in case” – only if lice or nits are found.
For School: Please report any case of head lice you may find so we can work together to minimize any spread. If your child has been treated for head lice, he/she should be seen in the health office here at school to have their head rechecked; a plan for further removal of lice and nits can be made as needed. If a case is found at school by the school nurse, confidentiality is maintained, the parent is notified, and offered up to date treatment information on management. The child may return to school the next day after treatment. Current research does not support head checks of classrooms, but close contacts and siblings should be checked.
For More Information
American Academy of Pediatrics, www.aap.org/advocacy/archives/septlice.htm
The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, www.healthinschools.org/headlice.asp
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/lice
Harvard School of Public Health, www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html
National Association of School Nurses, www.nasn.org/Default.aspx?tabid=237
Also – Patricia Harper, RN School Nurse Du Bois Regional Middle School 644-2324 patricia.harper@bhrsd.org