The tiger was on hand, just in case, Tuesday morning at Wilcox Elementary School in Lihu‘e. More than 300 students were scheduled to receive their flu shots coordinated through an innovative partnership between the state department of health and education.
The tiger was on hand, just in case, Tuesday morning at Wilcox Elementary School in Lihu‘e.
More than 300 students were scheduled to receive their flu shots coordinated through an innovative partnership between the state department of health and education.
The Hawai‘i Catholic Schools and Hawai‘i Association of Independent schools are also involved with the partnership to reduce illnesses in our schools and communities, states a press release from the Department of Health.
The tiger was a tool used by “comforters” for those students who were a little squeamish about the entire process.
Utilizing the help of about 10 Wilcox School parent volunteers, the Department of Health culled personnel from within its many sections to be able to coordinate the vaccination program.
According to the DOH release, from October 2007 through January 2008, the Hawai‘i State DOH will offer free seasonal flu vaccine to all Hawai‘i school children ages 5 to 13 at school, during the school day.
Toni Torres, the Incident Commander for the Wilcox program, said the personnel administering the vaccines at Wilcox School came from the Kaua‘i District Health office, the Medical Reserve Corps, and students from the Kaua‘i Community College nursing program.
“For the KCC nursing students, this gives them clinical experience,” said Torres of the Kaua‘i District Health office.
Students arriving for their vaccinations were checked in via the consent forms and packets done ahead of time and following verification from three different stations, were either administered an “inactive” or “active” vaccine, Torres said.
“Today, we have about 400 students and staff participating, and we’re trying to get it all done within three hours,” Torres said.
Wilcox School is one of 17 schools on Kaua‘i that is participating in the flu vaccine program, Torres said.
The first schools involved Hanalei and St. Catherine Church on Oct. 15, she added.
During the period vaccines are offered, Torres said the teams go out on Tuesdays and Thursdays to work with the schools.
Tomorrow, the teams will break into two groups, one handling Koloa School and the other taking care of students and staff at Kilauea School.
“When we work with smaller enrollment schools, we can handle two in a day,” Torres said. “When we worked with Waimea High School, the entire group was done in about an hour and a half.”
In addition to the vaccinations, Torres said the program is a training in what to do in the event of an emergency.
“We look at what we’re doing for the vaccinations and see what we can do and how we can prepare for an emergency situation,” Torres said. “Besides protecting the students against the flu, we look at how we can protect them even more.”
Torres said Evie Boiser, a Public Health Nurse, was the event coordinator for Wilcox School because she is the nurse assigned to care for that school.
“In the event something happens at the school, she is the nurse that gets called,” Torres said. “That being the case, she is the event commander.”
Chiyome Fukino, director of the state DOH, said funding for the estimated $2.5 million school-based flu vaccination program is being provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State of Hawai‘i with additional support from organizations like HMSA.
“School-age children are more likely to get influenza than almost any other age group, and when they do, they spread it around to their parents, grandparents, siblings and friends,” Fukino said in the DOH release. “This can be life-threatening to grandparents and family members with underlying health conditions. Vaccinating a child against flu not only protects the child, but also their community.”
Torres agreed, adding that by working with the schools, they are able to reach the “healthy” children who would otherwise go through the season unvaccinated.
“Healthy children normally don’t see the doctor, and by coming to the schools, we can administer the flu vaccine to them,” Torres said. “The children who visit doctors for treatments usually get their flu vaccines during these trips.”
Hawai‘i State Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said, in the DOH release, last year’s pilot project was extremely successful, making it natural to expand the vaccination project to more schools.
“Providing free and easy access to flu vaccines for our students will mean fewer sick days and more quality time for classroom learning,” Hamamoto said. “This is a positive measure to protect the health of our students and communities, and I encourage our principals to schedule a vaccination clinic in each of their schools.”
Nationally, schoolchildren have very high rates of influenza illness, exceeding 10 percent in most years, the DOH release states.
During the 2005-2006 influenza season, there were 15 outbreaks of influenza reported in Hawai‘i public schools, seven of which were confirmed as influenza with laboratory testing.
For more information about the program, visit the DOH Web site at www.hawaii.gov/health/influvaxforkids, or call Aloha United Way’s 2-1-1 hotline.
Information for parents are also available from their schools.
