TKW Consulting

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Swine Influenza A (H1N1) Information for Child Care Providers

Thought I would share some more information about the Influenza A (H1N1) and what you should consider preparing for as a child care provider...

You may be receiving questions from the families you work with regarding your plans or thoughts on managing flu in your program. The following guidelines are good, general health guidelines. They may also be helpful as you create a plan for managing this new illness and/or managing the concerns of parents. It is very likely you will never need to put this plan into action. It still may be reassuring to have such information on hand.You can help protect the health of yourself and the children and families you serve by calling attention to the every day preventive actions that parents can initiate to protect their children.

Please consider posting or distributing the following message in your child care facility:
Preventing the Flu: Good Health Habits Can Help Stop Germs (Fact Sheet)

For child care providers, it would be prudent to:

First and most importantly, remind parents and enforce policies for having ill children stay at home during their illness.
In addition, remind and inform workers not to come to work while ill.
A child may be infectious for up to 10 days after illness onset with influenza while adults are generally infectious for 5-7 days.
Review your plans for responding to a pandemic and make sure they are up to date.
Know local/state plans for child care in the event of a mild or severe pandemic.
This information may be available from state or local health authorities, child care licensing agencies or resource and referral agencies.
Develop and implement a system to track illness and absence due to illness among children and staff if one is not already in place. The system should be simple and easy to maintain but should record the number of persons with various illnesses (e.g. respiratory, diarrhea, rash) by day or at least by week (see Caring for Our Children Standards 3.001 and 3.002 for information on how to do this).
Review and implement CDC Guidelines and Recommendations for Preventing the Spread of Influenza (the Flu) in Child Care Settings: Guidance for Administrators, Care Providers, and Other Staff Make sure staff are familiar with the above guidelines and that they are being followed in your program. Remind child care staff to clean/disinfect frequently touched surfaces within the facility. Provide information to parents on steps that they could take to prevent flu. (This fact sheet could be distributed to each parent or posted on a door to the facility).
Monitor the postings on the CDC web site about this virus to see if child care facilities should begin preparing for possible closure or changes in operation.
Contact your local public health department if you have questions or suspected cases. Review your facilities emergency preparedness plans and consult with state and/or local health department’s pandemic plans, particularly if the number of cases escalates dramatically.

More information:

Child Care and Preschool Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist
Preparing for Disaster: The Parent View
Planning information for schools, including examples of state and local plans, can be found on the Department of Education's website
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevent (CDC) has developed guidelines for how child care providers in all settings can help prevent the spread of swine flu (78 KB). Note: Conditions and situations are changing rapidly and the recommendations could change over time.
The CDC has also developed a fact sheet entitled Preventing the Flu: Good Health Habits Can Help Stop Germs (25 KB) that can be posted in child care settings or distributed to parents.
The CDC has developed a Q&A for caregivers that addresses the most commonly asked questions regarding swine flu such as: What is swine flu; What are the symptoms; How can one keep from getting it; etc.
The CDC has also developed a publication entitled Getting Prepared for a Flu Pandemic: A Planning Kit for Child Care Providers, which gives providers the tools and resources to plan, prepare and respond to a flu pandemic. Coming soon!
NACCRRA has developed a resource for child care providers entitled Nurturing Children After Disasters: A Booklet for Child Care Providers to help them plan and prepare for general disasters.
The Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) has developed a checklist entitled Child Care and Preschool Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist (PDF) to help child care programs prepare for the effects of a flu pandemic.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has developed a document entitled Preventing the Flu in 2008-2009: Strategies and Resources for Child Care Providers and Out-of-Home Caregivers of Children (PDF) that provides practical advice on how to prevent the flu in child care settings.
The U.S. Department of Education has developed a document entitled H1N1 Flu & U.S. Schools: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (PDF). This document provides information for school leaders on appropriate measures to take to prevent the spread of the swine flu virus.
Information for Parents
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a Q&A for parents that addresses the most commonly asked questions regarding swine flu such as: What is swine flu; What are the Symptoms; How can one keep from getting it; etc.
NACCRRA has developed a brochure for parents entitled What's the Plan that provides parents with the proper questions to ask to a child care provider to ensure children are safe during disasters.
The U.S. Department of Education has developed a video for parents entitled Preparing for Pandemic Flu: A Family Checklist Video that defines the four flu variations and suggests things parents can do to prepare for it. (Note: to see this video, your computer must have Real Player, which is free from Real)