PERRY COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) -With summer coming to a close, teachers will soon be spreading their knowledge and student will be spreading their germs.
“When we come back to school, a lot of times what we see are kids with strep throat. That’s one of the big things we see, just from them being in close quarters, missing being with their friends, being up close and personal,” Perry County Schools’ District Health Coordinator Ashley Combs said.
She said the schools take preventative measures to combat sickness in the classrooms.
“If we do have kids that become sick, or we see a large amount of sickness in one specific classroom, we always make sure we provide hand sanitizers. We do daily sanitizing in our classrooms, wiping down all those desks, doorknobs and all those things that everybody is touching every single day,” she said.
Pediatrician Dr. Jordan Burke said there are some things to remind kids to stop the spread.
“Just preventative measures in general. Make sure people are washing their hands, making sure people aren’t sharing food or drinks,” Burke said. “Those are always the big ones to enforce to people, but kids are going to be kids. So, do their best.”
Combs said knowing how to prevent the spread of germs is important. She said it is also important to be prepared for emergencies.
“We’ve already got our staff, some of them back doing CPR training and AED training. We’ve done medication delegation, so if they have field trips, those kinds of things, our staff are fully trained to take them out and give them those medications while they are gone,” she said.
She added that having a steady routine and good nutrition can help kids build their immunity.
“Getting in bed and getting a good routine started back early. Making sure they stay hydrated, especially with the temperatures. We’re coming back to school in August and it’s really warm,” she said. “Just getting back to that routine of being in school, getting a healthy, nutritional breakfast- those types of things- before they come back to us.”
Combs mentioned the nurses in the school system have been trained for the year as well, and have prepped for kids with specific illnesses.
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