SADS Safe Schools

Our goal is to ensure that each school age child with a SADS condition has an updated care plan in place!

 

SADS Back-to-School Checklist

The SADS Foundation Back-To-School Checklist will walk you through the necessary steps and provide you with the tools needed to help create a safe school environment for your children (including care plans for the school nurse).

SADS Safe Schools Packet

The SADS Foundation SADS Safe Schools Packet has materials and information to help educate your child’s school personnel on how to keep your child safe, as well as how to recognize warning signs in other students.

What the SADS Foundation Recommends

1. Every child should have a risk assessment history at regular intervals: preschool, before/during middle school, before/during high school and before participation in organized sports.
2. Every school should have a medical emergency response plan (or a emergency action plan) in place, which includes a plan for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an automated external defibrillator (AED) in schools.
3. Every schoolchild with a SADS condition should have an individualized care plan in place.
4. Every school with a child who has a diagnosed SADS condition should have an AED program.
5. All high school students should be trained in CPR and AED protocol as a requirement for graduation.
6. Everyone should be aware of the warning signs that may indicate a child at risk of a sudden cardiac arrest.

SADS School Care Plans

Care plans are important tools in aiding school health professionals to ensure SADS kids safety at school. The SADS Foundation recommends all children with a SADS condition have an Individualized Healthcare Plan, a school Medical Emergency Response Plan or Emergency Action Plan (Sample Medical Emergency Response Plan) and an AED program in place at their school. If you have a SADS child at your school and have not had a discussion with their parents about care plans, we strongly suggest you do so today!

Use one of the following care plans that are specifically designed for a child with a SADS condition.

• ICD Care Plan
• Long QT Syndrome Care Plan
• Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome Care Plan
• Brugada Syndrome Care Plan
• Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT) Care Plan
• Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia (ARVD) Care Plan

Consider Raising Awareness at your school:

1. Put SADS posters in hallways, teachers’ lounges, gyms, etc.

2. Add SADS Risk Assessment questions to the school’s physical screening forms.

3. Arrange CPR training with school nurses, teachers, and coaches.

4. Give presentations to parents, PTA, state (or district) School Nurses’ Association, local sport leagues and others. Contact Mikayla for information and materials.

5. Write articles in school newspapers, PTA newsletters and other local publications.