 |
|
VICTORIA – B.C. school districts are
required to develop and implement anaphylaxis policies that meet new, rigorous
provincial standards, Education Minister Shirley Bond said today.
“Children with life-threatening allergies need to
be safe in B.C. schools, and our direction today is for all school districts to
take immediate steps to ensure all students are protected,” said Bond. “Boards
of education will now be required to have school-based anaphylaxis policies and
practices that meet rigorous provincial standards.”
The Ministry of Education led a comprehensive
consultation process with major stakeholders, including Anaphylaxis Canada, the
Allergy/Asthma Information Association, the BCMA, health authorities, health officers, educators, trustees and
parents over the summer to develop an Anaphylaxis Child Health and Safety
Framework.
The
framework will direct districts as they develop school-based policies for
managing anaphylaxis in schools. The ministry, in consultation with members of
the committee, will develop additional guidelines for schools and districts in
the areas of training, monitoring and reporting. Every school district will be required to develop anaphylaxis policies and implement
best practices, including:
·
Providing a definition of anaphylaxis.
·
Identifying individuals at risk.
·
Encouraging the use of Medi-Alert identification.
·
Emergency procedure plans.
·
Record keeping.
·
Storage and administration of medication.
·
Incident debriefing.
·
Development of allergy awareness, prevention and
avoidance strategies.
·
Training strategy.
·
Defined roles and responsibilities.
·
Education to create an allergy-aware school
community.
“We made a commitment to ensure a framework was in
place in September and we are delivering on that promise,” said Bond. “I am
signing a ministerial order that has the force of law, to provide a rapid
response to ensure schools are prepared to deal with an emergency situation
involving a student with a life-threatening allergy.”
“I appreciated the opportunity to participate in
the development of a framework for anaphylaxis policies in B.C. schools,” said
Katharine Matthews, parent and Provincial Anaphylaxis Advisory Committee
Member. “This is an important step in protecting children with life-threatening
allergies in the ongoing collective process toward allergy awareness.”
“Families who have a child with severe allergies
must have confidence that their schools are prepared to deal with an
anaphylactic emergency,” said Les Dukowski, president of the Principals and
Vice Principals Association. “I commend the Province for its leadership on
developing provincial standards to ensure all schools throughout the province
are prepared.”
Boards of education will be responsible for
ensuring each school in the district has a school-based policy for monitoring
and reporting anaphylaxis emergencies. Boards will be required to report this
information in their annual achievement contracts with the Ministry of
Education. Superintendents of achievement will work with districts to ensure
development of policies begins immediately.
-30-
|
contact: |
Public Affairs Bureau Ministry of Education 250 356-5963 250 920-9040 (cell) |
|
|
|
||
|
For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
||
