CDC recommends back to school emergency card in back pack

[Weedygarden]

https://www.foxnews.com/health/cdc-back-to-school-emergency-card

Maybe all of you have something like this in yours and your child's backpack.

"Back to school season is officially here, and federal health officials are recommending parents and caregivers to take an extra step to ensure their child’s safety.

'BACK TO SCHOOL' ADVICE FROM IOWA SENIOR CITIZENS GOES VIRAL

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends placing a “backpack emergency card” in your child’s backpack. The card should include the child’s name, date of birth and contact information for their parent or guardian. Additionally, it should provide an out-of-town contact and detail any of the child’s special needs or medical conditions – such as allergies – in case of an emergency situation.

Parents and caregivers can write their contact information and detail any of their child's medical conditions on the card. (iStock)

“You know how easily books and papers get lost or destroyed in your child’s backpack, so make sure that their emergency card can withstand the wear and tear. Consider laminating their emergency card and picking a secure place in their backpack where their card can be quickly and easily located,” the CDC recommends.

Speaking of back to school, 63 percent of moms feel extra stress at the beginning of the school year, according to a recent survey. This is especially true for those who have young children, surveyors found."

 

[Sentry18]

We have our children memorize a whole lot of data but we don't put info cards in their packs. We do however have a GPS micro tracker hidden inside each of their backpacks which are trackable on our smart phones or any internet enabled device. On top of that we take individual photos of our kids about every couple weeks or whenever they change hair styles, so we always have a single clear recent photo if needed.

 

[Weedygarden]

We have our children memorize a whole lot of data but we don't put info cards in their packs. We,bled device. On top of that we take individual photos of our kids about every couple weeks or whenever they change hair styles, so we always have a single clear recent photo if needed.

This was one of the things that I would work on with my students--knowing basic information including full name, parents names and phone number, home address, birth date. Some parents do not want their children to know too much, such as their address and phone number. School directories often have blanks for this information for some families as well.

 

[ssonb]

Hey S18 do you have one of those killed drones that hover over them for air support??

 

[Dani]

When I was a kid growing up mom had written my name and home phone number in my lunchbox. One when I was 5 riding my bike to school, I was hit by a car. It was a bit and run but the man who stopped had located my information and was able to call my mom to let her know which hospital the ambulance was taking me to.

Back in the day, you could do things like write personal information. . . Now I would have mixed feelings about it. Since I was in a coma for two weeks, I would not have been able to tell anyone who I was. Even if I was not, I was not able to talk for 6 weeks after the accident. I'm sure my parents would have figured it out but by having my phone number available sure helped

 

[Amish Heart]

Emergency Essentials used to sell a "school" emergency kit for kids that fit in the backpack. I ordered them for our grands a while back. Had a small pack of essentials and a place for info.

 

[Weedygarden]

Had a small pack of essentials and a place for info.

I think this is so important. When I contacted the teacher's union to ask advice about what to do about the father of a student who was threatening, I was advised to look in the school district emergency procedure notebook. What emergency notebook? I asked principal about it. She never wanted to deal with it, to upset people, so she didn't. She never gave emergency notebooks to each teacher (district protocol) and never had meetings to review emergency procedures, again, district protocol. She sure took plenty of time to talk about how whitey has done everyone else wrong though. EVERY faculty meeting included some of that, and / or talk about this religion or that religion. The only way you could say "Jesus Christ" would have been if something was disturbing and you said it without reverence.

In lockdown situations, which happen a few times a year, each classroom should have emergency supplies. Many classrooms do not have restrooms and especially in stressful situations, many HAVE to use it.

 

[Weedygarden]

When I saw this article, one of my thoughts was that I should make sure my own bags and backpacks have this information in them, including being laminated. Name, address, phone number, emergency contact people, medications. Is this too much? I am thinking of Dani's situation. What if we were knocked out and in a coma for a while? I am also thinking of older people who might have dementia, or even begin to display early signs of it.

 

[Sentry18]

Hey S18 do you have one of those killed drones that hover over them for air support??

I would if I could!

 

[backlash]

The schools used to have fund raisers and sell ID bracelet and necklaces.
Name, address, & phone number. Just about every kid had one.
I bought my folks ID tags for their car keys. No address but their name and my phone number to call if they were found.
Mom thought it was great but my dad knew I really bought them in case one of them was lost or injured.
I still have both of their tags still on their key rings even tho them and their car are long gone.

 

[Weedygarden]

The schools used to have fund raisers and sell ID bracelet and necklaces.
Name, address, & phone number. Just about every kid had one.
I bought my folks ID tags for their car keys. No address but their name and my phone number to call if they were found.
Mom thought it was great but my dad knew I really bought them in case one of them was lost or injured.
I still have both of their tags still on their key rings even tho them and their car are long gone.

This is a great idea. It has been suggested to me that I get a medical bracelet because my blood type is fairly rare, B-.

 

[Cascadian]

Sentry what do you use for the kids?

 

[Sentry18]

Sentry what do you use for the kids?

Samsung "Smart Things" Tracker. It is about the size of a keychain, uses LTE cell phone network, is water resistant, and has a battery life of 9-10 days. They also have GEO-fencing, which means we can set it to alert us if it leaves any zone we set up. My wife used her sewing skills to make a concealed pocket in each of our younger kids backpacks.

 

[backlash]

I ordered a medical alert tag for my brother from this site.
It's not an actual medial alert tag but it has all the pertinent information on it and it was only $10.95.
Much cheaper than an alert bracelet plus it looks good.
They are actually geared toward horse owners so they have a lot of things for horse people like stall signs and halters.
http://www.bridletags.com/index.htm
Amazon also has a lot of things like that.
It could save a life.
https://www.amazon.com/medical-alert-tag/s?k=medical+alert+tag

 

[Sentry18]

I know we have officers who get tattoos with medical info like blood type. Not my thing, but it's done.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

I still wear dog tags.
Name
Veteran
Blood type
Allergies
Medical information
Emergency number

 

[Weedygarden]

I know we have officers who get tattoos with medical info like blood type. Not my thing, but it's done.

Not a fan of tattoos, but this would be the best reason to have one.

 

[backlash]

I read a new a news story about a guy that had "Do not resuscitate" tattooed on his chest.
Caused the ER staff to pause but they did do CPR because it was not an official document.
I'm not sure the blood type tattoo would do much good. I doubt any medical facility would be willing to risk the liability if they were wrong and blood typing is pretty quick.

 

[Terri9630]

The kid has a medical bracelet. It has her name, diagnosis and primary and cardiologist phone numbers on it. My name and number are on the back. There is a website associated with the bracelet that has all her info and we update as needed. There is also a helo medivac service that we are subscribed to that has all her medical info in their system. We live in the middle of nowhere and emergencies are flown out. The subscription is $50 per year per family and they take our ins pmt as full pmt.

 

[Weedygarden]

The kid has a medical bracelet. It has her name, diagnosis and primary and cardiologist phone numbers on it. My name and number are on the back. There is a website associated with the bracelet that has all her info and we update as needed. There is also a helo medivac service that we are subscribed to that has all her medical info in their system. We live in the middle of nowhere and emergencies are flown out. The subscription is $50 per year per family and they take our ins pmt as full pmt.

This is really important.

I once had a first grade student who was diabetic. He had to be closely monitored. One day, shortly before lunch he began vomiting. Yikes! Other students go to lunch and recess and my break and lunch time get spent trying to reach his parents and taking care of him. They were at lunch and were not answering their phones, well, because that would be rude. I tried calling grandparents, on the contact card, no response! If I remember correctly, they were at lunch with the parents. Diabetic child tosses the contents of his stomach, it is lunch time, no one is answering the phone, what do I do? I finally decided the thing I needed to do was to call his physician's office so we wouldn't have to call an ambulance! Physicians office says to give him a teaspoon of coke every X minutes. During the time when it was my lunch time. When lunch is over, children have returned to class, then I get a call from his parents. Someone comes and tells me they are returning my call. This is before teachers could have phones in their classrooms because they might just get on them and talk all day. With a bunch of children running amok? Not with my students! So now I am alone in the classroom with children and his parents decide their lunch is over so they can talk. Normally, the front office could or would handle all of this, but somehow they were short-handed that day.

That contact card was really worked over that day.

 

[backlash]

This is really important.

I once had a first grade student who was diabetic. He had to be closely monitored. One day, shortly before lunch he began vomiting. Yikes! Other students go to lunch and recess and my break and lunch time get spent trying to reach his parents and taking care of him. They were at lunch and were not answering their phones, well, because that would be rude. I tried calling grandparents, on the contact card, no response! If I remember correctly, they were at lunch with the parents. Diabetic child tosses the contents of his stomach, it is lunch time, no one is answering the phone, what do I do? I finally decided the thing I needed to do was to call his physician's office so we wouldn't have to call an ambulance! Physicians office says to give him a teaspoon of coke every X minutes. During the time when it was my lunch time. When lunch is over, children have returned to class, then I get a call from his parents. Someone comes and tells me they are returning my call. This is before teachers could have phones in their classrooms because they might just get on them and talk all day. With a bunch of children running amok? Not with my students! So now I am alone in the classroom with children and his parents decide their lunch is over so they can talk. Normally, the front office could or would handle all of this, but somehow they were short-handed that day.

That contact card was really worked over that day.

You are a lot more patient than I am. I would have called 911 and let the parents deal with it after the fact. Maybe a big ambulance and hospital bill would get their attention.

 

[Terri9630]

You are a lot more patient than I am. I would have called 911 and let the parents deal with it after the fact. Maybe a big ambulance and hospital bill would get their attention.

That was my thought too. I ALWAYS answer if the kid, school, or whoever she is with calls. I don't care what I'm doing.