Seizures
Seizures can be very mild to life-threatening, imperceptible to dramatic, and everything in between.
Your school nurse can help plan a school seizure plan tailored to your child's needs.
The BIG question - Are your child's seizures Life-Threatening?
School planning depends a lot on how severe the seizures are.
Life-threatening Seizures: If your child has been precribed rescue medication like nasal midazolam, rectal diazepam, or lorazepam in the cheek, the disorder is considered potentially life-treatening.
NON Life-Threatening seizures: If your child only has daily medications, that indicates that the seizures are not life threatening.
Annual Checklist for Life-Threatening Seizures - What to do every year before school starts...
Before your child is allowed to start school each year, your nurse needs the following items:
Doctor's orders for seizure care and medications (these usually come from Children's) - signed by the doctor and the parent,
Rescue medication - (nasal spray or oral formulation preferred),
Meet or talk with the school nurse to update the health plan.
All paperwork must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the first day of school in order to ensure your child may attend without delay.
Families should make an appointment to drop off supplies and meet with the nurse sometime during the week before school starts.
Annual Checklist for NON Life-Threatening Seizures
Students with NON Life-Threatening seizures are allowed to start school without approved medications. However, for your child's safety, we advise the following:
Provide doctor's orders for seizure care and daily medications (these usually come from a neurologist) - signed by the doctor and the parent,
Provide a 72 hours supply of daily medications, in case there is a disaster and your child is not able to go home for several days.
Meet or talk with the school nurse to update the health plan.
Families should make an appointment to drop off supplies and meet with the nurse sometime during the week before school starts.
New Students & Newly Diagnosed Students - Creating your first health plan
If your child is starting a new school or has a new diagnosis, your school nurse will meet with you to create your child's Individualized Health Plan (IHP) for seizure care at school. Please contact your school nurse right away.
Components of an Individualized Health Plan
Choose your school:
Little Mountain Elementary is the only elementary school in our district with a licensed nurse on-site every day of the week. For very young children or children with severe seizures, we recommend placement at Little Mountain. Please see Campuses for Students with Significant Medical Needs for more information.
Nurses are also on site every day at LaVenture Middle School, Mount Baker Middle School, and Mount Vernon High School.
Meet with your school nurse:
Describe the seizures: what triggers them? what happens during a seizure? how long do they last? what care does you child need after a seizure?
Review the doctor's orders.
Discuss how we will prepare for a seizure in the classroom or on the bus.
Identify who will provide care at school:
All school and transportation staff are trained in basic seizure care. A few key people in close contact with your child will be trained to provide emergency rescue medication, depending on what type of medication you provide. Rectal meds can only be administered by a licensed nurse or Parent Designated Adult.
Parents may also wish to identify a Parent Designated Adult to provide care at school. This is a person at the school who volunteers to provide full seizure care if the nurse is not available. PDAs must be trained by an epilepsy educator from outside of the school district before they assume responsibility for the care of the child. Please ask your school nurse if you would like more information about PDAs.
Think about extracurricular activities:
After school, overnight, and off-campus activities require additional planning. Please contact your school nurse several weeks in advance of these activities. For younger students or students with severe seizures, parents or adult family members are encouraged to chaperone field trips, swimming lessons, and overnight camp experiences if possible. Please note that you will need time to complete volunteer paperwork.
Create and update the plan:
Your school nurse will consider all of these things in creating a school plan.
Every spring, we will send you a packet of paperwork to get your health plan and doctor’s orders updated for the following school year. All paperwork for life-threatening conditions must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the first day of school in order to ensure your child may attend without delay.
Please contact your school nurse at any time to update your child’s health plan.
Deliver required paperwork and supplies:
By WA State law, all students must have the following items at school before they are allowed to start in the fall:
Before your child is allowed to start school each year, your nurse needs the following items:
Doctor's orders for seizure care and medications (these usually come from Children's) - signed by the doctor and the parent,
Rescue medication - (nasal spray or oral formulation preferred),
Meet or talk with the school nurse to update the health plan.
All paperwork must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the first day of school in order to ensure your child may attend without delay.
Families should make an appointment to drop off supplies and meet with the nurse sometime during the week before school starts.
