When it comes to school forms, it’s never too early
We know that summer just started, but when it comes to school forms, it’s never too early.
Give your doctors plenty of time to fill out and sign the forms, don’t wait until the last minute. In fact, it’s unlikely that you are the only one requesting the forms to be filled. Take into consideration also that the school will have new teachers, personnel, nurse when applicable and you’ll also need time to make an appointment with them and go over the requirements.
WHAT TO DO:
1. Pick up the forms from school (each school is different, sometimes they vary from year to year, public, charter and private schools they all have different forms)
2. You can choose to email them or bring them to us
3. We’ll call you when ready (TIP: the earlier the better)
Here’s a convenient list of the documents that you will have to have the doctor update to bring back to school.
• Up to date prescriptions. Rescue inhalers and epinephrine auto-injectors need time to be prescribed, filled and delivered to the school.
• “Medicine Authorization”. There are cases when children are old enough and authorized to self-carry and self-administer, each child is different and each school has different protocols. If the school forms do not reflect your child needs, you need your time to make them conform, there’s no cut off age, but a good rule of thumb is your child being able to demonstrate to the healthcare provider how to use the medication. It’s important to be noted that even in the case of self-carry, the need for another prescription available in school, in case of emergency, is wise.
• “Asthma Action Plan” and “Food Action Plan” or Emergency Action Plan. These are “treatment plans”: few key pieces of information such as diagnosis, name, DOB don’t change and that includes the description of the symptoms. On the other hand medication, doses, emergency contact, and at times diagnosis change on a yearly basis. They include three sections of information: Medication and general information (name, a picture, name of the doctor); Diagnosis and Symptoms: how to recognize the beginning signs of a possible episode; What to do.
• “Individual Health Plan“ or “504 Plan”. It’s a personalized health plan comprehensive of all the steps the school will take to accommodate your child needs, such as food management and dietary needs.
