Public Health, Medical, and Mental Health Annex

The primary purpose of the Public Health, Medical, and Mental Health Annex is to put in place systems and protocols to prevent and/or limit physical and mental health harm and to facilitate healthy coping and responsive behaviors among adults and students. Obviously, this annex is central to the overall plan for response to significant infectious disease outbreak.

• Promote daily preventive actions for all staff, students, and families. This includes the following:
• Helping staff and students understand how to protect themselves and that the practice of healthy habits can help to reduce the potential of traumatic impact on people. Providing this information can increase the level of control that people perceive that they have over the crisis event.
• Encouraging students to practice everyday good hygiene—simple steps to prevent the spread of illness:
• Wash hands multiple times a day for at least 20 seconds (singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” slowly takes about 20 seconds)
• Covering their mouths with a tissue when they sneeze or cough and throwing out the tissue immediately, and not sharing food or They can also sneeze or cough into the bend of their elbow.
• Practice giving fist or elbow bumps instead of handshakes. Fewer germs are spread this way.
• Giving students guidance on what they can do to prevent infection gives them a greater sense of control over disease spread and will help to reduce their anxiety.
• Encouraging students to eat a balanced diet, get enough sleep, and exercise regularly—this will help them develop strong immune systems to fight off illness.
• Develop a policy that enables school administrators to control access to the buildings.
• Each school should have a plan to lock down certain entrances and exits and to monitor others, if necessary.
• Develop plans for stockpiling and distributing infection-control supplies.
• Provide routine training about flu transmission, prevention, and control measures.
• Conduct mock exercises related to surveillance and infection control in pandemic flu.
• Educate employees and visitors not to come to the facility if they have flu symptoms.
• Assess adequacy of infection-control supplies and review distribution plan.
• Air conditioning system filters should be cleaned and changed frequently.

Preparing for a Pandemic Illness: Guidelines for School Administrators and School Crisis Response Teams. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2020, from https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-climate-safety-and-crisis/health-crisis-resources/preparing-for-a-pandemic-illness-guidelines-for-school-administrators-and-school-crisis-response-teams