Introduction
CBE acknowledges that emergency situations may occur on the school bus and that allergies are a growing health and safety concern. Allergies, and the body's response to them, can be as mild as a cough or runny nose but can be a serious and life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis.
When the school, family, and CBE Transportation work collaboratively, we create a comprehensive student transportation safety plan that provides details and guidance to support student safety in an emergency.
Bus drivers and bus attendants have an important role in the student transportation safety plan and may need to administer life-saving medication consistent with first aid training: epinephrine, using an epinephrine auto-injectors (such as EpiPen) for an anaphylactic reaction and an inhaler for a life-threatening respiratory emergency. When a driver or attendant uses the epinephrine auto-injector or inhaler, they do so as a certified first aid responder, not as health professionals. They will not carry life-saving medication on behalf of students.
CBE and service providers cooperate with arrangements made by health care providers. CBE is committed to ensuring the provision of plans, programs and/or services that will enable students with health or medical concerns, including life-threatening allergies, to attend or participate in school and school activities, in addition to ensuring the safety and privacy of personal information in alignment with the FOIP Act.
Definitions
Allergic Asthma: means inflammation of tiny structures in the lungs that causes them to swell and restrict airflow.
Anaphylaxis: means an extreme allergic reaction that causes the throat to close, preventing air from getting through. Blood pressure can drop, and the pulse can weaken, and if the restriction of air is prolonged an individual can become unconscious or fatal.
Child: means a child or student who is enrolled in an early childhood program.
Impairment: means any abnormality or loss of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function.
Medication: means a drug obtained either through prescription by a physician or over the counter purchase.
Medical Supports: means equipment or accessories required to maintain health (e.g. injectors, inhalers).
Parent: means the parent as defined in Section 1(2) of the Education Act of Alberta.
Self-administer: means the student assumes responsibility for independently carrying and taking medication.
Significant Health Concerns: means serious or life-threatening health conditions including, but not limited to, severe allergies, anaphylaxis, diabetes, and epilepsy.
Student: means a person identified in sections 1(hh) and 7 of the Education Act who is:
- enrolled in a school;
- is a resident of Alberta and has a parent who is a resident of Canada:
- at September 1 in a year is six (6) years of age or older; and is younger than nineteen (19) years of age; but
- does not include a child younger than 6 years of age who is enrolled in an early childhood services program.
Transportation Safety Plan: means a formalized plan that provides a process of providing safe, consistent, and coordinated care of students and children diagnosed with a medical condition, and who may require staff to participate in the student or child's management and/or emergency care plan while at school.
Requirements
- A Transportation Safety Plan is required for all students with medical conditions that may impact their access to transportation services.
- All Transportation Safety Plans must be reviewed and revised annually, at least two weeks before the start of the school year and signed by the parent or independent student.
- Except as provided for in this memo, no medications are to be given during transportation by the driver or attendant.
- Where students are self-administering, the medication must be restricted to a single day's dose and handled in a safe and responsible manner.
- The medication and other health needs of a student may be administered by a Licensed Practical Nurse as recommended by Classic LifeCare Assessment, provided that arrangements are:
- Consistent with the provisions of this memo; and
- Acceptable to and approved by the Principal.
Parent Guardian Responsibilities
- Ensure the student has an active registration for transportation, or be registered for a field trip that requires transportation;
- Consent that the other students on the bus will be provided with information on the food allergies of a student on the bus, in a manner that is appropriate for the age and maturity level of the student;
- The parent or guardian must complete a Transportation Safety Plan for the student, working collaboratively with the school and CBE Transportation before riding the school bus, and provide a recent photograph of the student or child;
- Ensure the student carries their medication in a specific location in the backpack every time the student is on a school bus and that location must be detailed in the Transportation Safety Plan;
- Ensure the medication is replaced before it expires; and
- Provide any relevant updates to the school and CBE Transportation if the medical information or contact information changes.
School Principal Responsibilities
- The school must notify CBE Transportation when a student riding a school bus for either student transportation or off-site activity field trips has a life-threatening medical condition;
- Ensuring the development of the Transportation Safety Plan is developed specific to each individual, in cooperation with parents or independent students and other health care professionals as necessary, including;
- Procedures to be followed;
- Location of the medication and/or medical supplies;
- Photograph of the student; and
- Updating emergency contract information provided by the parent or guardian.
Service Provider Responsibilities
- Ensure all drivers and attendants are trained in first aid;
- Ensure the bus driver, or any spare drivers, LPN, and attendant assigned to the route or off-site activity transportation are comfortable with Transportation Safety Plans and administering applicable medications;
Provide annual refresher training to the drivers and attendants with students with significant health concerns, including life threatening allergies;
- For students with allergies, ensure the driver has a sign that no food is allowed on the bus because avoiding the food that causes an allergic reaction is the only way to prevent an emergency; the back side of the sign should be page 1 of 5 Emergency Steps for Treating Anaphylaxis;
- Support driver through emergency including calling 9-1-1 and relaying information;
- Call parent/guardian of the student to inform them of the emergency;
- Communicate emergency to CBE Transportation manager; and
- Ensure student personal information is protected, securely stored, and destroyed once it is no longer required.
Driver (or Attendant) Responsibilities
- Read the route details, Transportation Safety Plan;
- Put the laminated “no food allowed" sign up at the front of the bus, the back side of the sign should be page 1 of 5 Emergency Steps for Treating Anaphylaxisif applicable to the Transportation Safety Plan;
- Notify students on the bus there is a student (no name provided) with food allergies, therefore no food is allowed;
- Enforce the “no food allowed" rule as is reasonably practicable up to including a Student Bus Report/Event Bus Report;
- Assign student with a life-threatening medical condition to the front seats, closest to the driver;
- In an emergency, pull the bus over at a safe location, to ensure the safety of all passengers;
- Contact dispatch to notify them of an emergency;
- Follow the Transportation Safety Plan and first aid training including noting the timing, dosage, and administration of the medication;
- Once first aid has been administered, notify other students there has been a medical emergency, they are safe, and their families will be informed of a delay;
- Encourage an empathetic understanding of significant health concerns and the seriousness of the consequences with other students;
- Submit an incident report within 24 hours whenever emergency first aid is administered.
Student Responsibilities
When developmentally appropriate, students with significant health concerns including life-threatening allergies, must:
- Be able to communicate with and inform the school bus driver and attendant of their significant health concerns;
- Be aware of the triggers and how to minimize their risk of exposure to them;
- Know how to recognize the symptoms of a significant reaction;
- Promptly inform the bus driver or attendant as soon as they sense a reaction, or the appearance of symptoms;
- Keep medical supports such as injectors, monitors, inhalers or other medical supports in the backpack in the location detailed in the Transportation Safety Plan;
- Know how to monitor their health, use an injector, monitor or inhaler, or take the required medication and be ready and able to administer the injector;
- Not share medication; and
- Work as a collaborative partner if receiving an accommodation.
CBE Transportation Responsibilities
- CBE will provide student information on the route that identifies them as having a life-threatening condition that requires emergency first aid response, along with the medication, as is communicated by the family;
- CBE will provide a copy of the Transportation Safety Plan with a photograph of the student, to the service provider; and
- Notify parents of other students on bus of an incident.
