Along with being a matter of prioritising education, the reopening of schools is an essential step towards economic recovery. Several provinces in Canada have partially opened their schools, while others have decided to remain closed until September.
Sooner or later, children will return to schools, and the initial reopening will be complicated. There are specific rules that all schools should employ before kick-starting their academic year to ensure the safety and security of their staff and students.
Our First Aid training professionals have listed down a few:
Hand Hygiene
It’s vital that schools continually reinforce the importance of hand and respiratory hygiene. This includes proper handwashing with safe water and soap, alcohol rub/hand sanitizer or chlorine solution, and daily disinfection of school surfaces. Prepare and maintain handwashing stations with soap and water. If possible, place alcohol-based hand sanitizers in each classroom, at entrances and exits, and near lunchrooms and toilets.
Cohorting
“Cohorting refers to minimising the number of staff and students any individual comes in contact with and maintaining consistency in those contacts as much as possible. This means assigned seating; if possible, assign seats by cohort. The same students sit together each day. Each class should be kept separate during indoor and outdoor activities and move as a cohort to entrances, exits, or other spaces within the school.
Daily Screening Process for Students and Staff
UNICEF and WHO suggest daily screening of both students and staff to track any changes in health. Any induvial with a temperature higher than usual should be sent home immediately to avoid the risk. Each person conducting screening must wear a face mask and regularly wash their hands for 20 seconds or use a hand sanitizer (at least 60 % alcohol) during screening. Social distancing must be observed at all times.
Pick and Drop Rules
Schools should enforce strict pick and drop rules for parents. This includes ensuring no delay at the entrance gate. It is essential to have a designated parent or guardian that comes to drop and pick the child to limit the number of people the staff comes in contact with. When two or more people go, it tends to get overcrowded, and following the social distance, the rule might be hard to do, risking the safety of the people around you.
First Aid Training
An appropriate level of first aid should be available in every school, and all staff informed of the first-aid arrangements. This guidance will assist school heads to ensure first aiders are confident that they can help someone injured or ill at work during the coronavirus outbreak.
A person or team should be appointed to take charge when someone (student or staff) is injured or falls ill, such as calling the emergency services if necessary, and ensuring the first aid box is maintained at all times.
Metro Safety Training provides high-quality first aid training courses in Vancouver, that’s essential for all schools today. With first aid training, staff can deal with emergencies that may occur. Take a look at the first aid training courses we offer on our website. Contact us at 604-521-4227 to register.
