Is your child’s school first-aid ready?

We list the basics you must check to ascertain if your child’s school has the tools to help children maintain good hygiene.

So your child is going back to school for a new term. It is a bittersweet feeling to watch your child grow up so quickly. But apart from your pride at watching them grow up, you are also worried about them catching various illness from other children. Young children are prone to sharing play time and love to be in close proximity to each other. This means that illness-causing germs and bacteria can spread very easily in a classroom environment.

Your child may be vaccinated for certain infections, so they may be better prepared to fight those. However, daily personal hygiene practices are most important when your child goes back to school. 

Check your child’s school for the following:

Soap dispensers. When your child goes back to school, visit the restroom with them and show them how to wash their hands using soap and water. This is very important for young children beginning school, or for those who are recovering from an illness. Explain how to soap and lather the hands and give them a thorough rinse, before drying their hands on a clean paper towel. If the school does not have liquid soap dispensers, suggest to the management that they provide the same.

A big box of tissues per class. Children can fall ill quite easily because they are in close proximity to each other in class. This means that if even one child has a cold or cough, there is high risk of the entire class falling ill by turns. You can help your child break this cycle of germ transmission by teaching them to sneeze or cough into tissues, and to throw their used tissues in the garbage bin. Do ask the teacher if there is a box of tissues provided per class. The school will be responsible enough to provide the same. If not, then you can pack tissues and a hand sanitiser in your child’s bag.

A garbage bin in the class and corridors. Children are often tempted to ball up their used tissues and throw them on the floor. Discourage this practice at home, and they will learn not to do it at school, either. Every classroom has a garbage bin, and your child must throw their used tissues in the bin.

A first aid kit with sufficient supplies. Every classroom must be equipped with a first aid kit. Children get cuts and grazes from falling or playing, or they may even develop fever at school. The kit must include bandages, gauze, disinfecting liquid, medicated tape, thermometer, spare tissues, cotton, scissors, sanitiser (for use by the person administering first aid), etc. If the classroom has a kit, check it to ascertain if the products are within their expiration date. If the classroom does not have a kit, you could prepare one for the class’s use.