During our second week here at Gila River, Briana and I continued to work in School Health while Cemile and Delissa worked in Public Health. There are seven districts total so there are many schools to visit. Over the past two weeks we have screened approximatley 650 elementary and middle school kids' hearing and vision. It has been hard and long hours, but very exciting and rewarding.
One of the nurses caught a young man with a heart condition after we took his heart rate and blood pressure during the screening. He would have never know he had a bad heart and the outcome could have been very different if we had not provided these screenings in the schools.
Later in the week we visited Blackwater Elementary doing the same thing. However, the process was interupted when the school had a lock down. Later we found out a man with a gun had been on the reservation looking for a school. It was an experience I never would have guess I would have, but it is a reality in the world we live in today. It was interesting to see the protocols and procedures taken at the school. The children actually left school early so the school would not be liable. All the teachers and staff worked collaboratively to keep all the children safe, and no one was harmed.
This weekend we will be attending a Rodeo with our supervisor, Rennee, and visiting the Grand Canyon. We are all having a wonderful experience out here and are loving the warm weather!
You bring up a good point about safety in today's world and how even schools are not safe places. In the "old" days schools were designated as fall out shelters if needed after nuclear or bomb attack. There has always been some type of danger that children were prepared for in the school setting. After the Columbine High school shooting in 1999, new rules and drills were put into place. While those were student themselves it brought to the forefront the need for ongoing evaluation and assessment of young people and their mental status. How do we help children to feel safe in a world where there seems to be so much going on? Do we assess the mental health of children like we do those biometric properties?
ReplyDelete