Prevention:
Individuals (students, faculty and staff) are asked to take the following preventative measures to avoid being infected and to avoid spreading the virus:
1. Wash your hands frequently
2. Cough or sneeze into a tissue or your shirt sleeve
3. Avoid close contact with sick people
4. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth (germs spread this way)
5. Identify if you are in a high risk group:
1) those who are 65 years of age or older,
2) women who are pregnant,
3) those with a serious medical condition that impairs the immune system, such as: cancer, blood disorders, chronic lung disease, diabetes, heart disease, AIDS , or other factors that contribute to a compromised auto-immune system (go to
www.cdc.org for a full list)
6. Obtain a seasonal influenza vaccination--especially if you are part of a high risk group
a. A list of all seasonal flu clinics offered by the City can be found at:
www.bphc.org/flu
b. There is currently no H1N1 vaccination available; it is expected to be made available in late October to early November.
The School has taken or will take the following preventative measures:
1. Implement a campaign to raise awareness of preventative measures
2. Increase availability of hand soap and hand sanitizers
3. High traffic surfaces will be cleaned on a daily basis by the Facilities Department
4. Bulk purchase of sanitizing wipes for office surfaces (i.e. Lysol Disinfectant Wipes); offices are asked to wipe down high traffic surfaces on a daily basis
5. Bulk purchase of disposable wipes for keyboards, especially MAC LAB and D-LAB
6. Bulk purchase of disposable thermometers
ILI (Influenza-Like-Illness) Symptoms:
1. cough
2. sore throat
3. body aches
4. headache
5. chills
6. fatigue
Preparedness: School Response to Outbreaks
Individuals (students, faculty and staff) are asked to do the following in the event of an ILI (influenza like illness):
1. Stay home--self-isolate from others except to get medical care--most people with H1N1 have had mild illness and have not had need of medical care or antiviral drugs; if you must go out in public wear a facemask if you have one
2. Report Illness to:
i. health care provider
ii. students to Student Affairs; faculty to Academic Affairs; staff to supervisor (note: ALL cases should be reported to Student Affairs for reporting to BPHC)
3. Students who report illness will be granted an excused absence by Student Affairs or Academic Affairs; faculty sick time will be handled according to the terms of the individuals contract; staff will be assessed a sick day
4. Remain away for 24 hours after you no longer have a fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit) or signs of fever (chills, overheating, flushed, or sweating)
5. Be aware of the location of local hospitals and emergency services and seek them out if your illness becomes life threatening
The School will do or has done the following in the event of individual illness:
1. Absence policies should be modified to encourage and support self-isolation;
i. Students will be given leniency for absence policies; Review Board faculty will be instructed to make special accommodations for large periods of time missed in classes and for missed or lack of work due to illness;
ii. Faculty: share student policy with class(es); We encourage all faculty to think now about revisions in absence policies should H1N1 strike a student and to be understanding at review board time if students have missed significant amount of work because of the illness.
iii. Staff: allow for a lenient approach to absences, including high risk group; account for new employees who have not accrued sick time
2. Report all reported ILI cases to the BPHC
3. If possible and appropriate, create ways for students to continue work if they are ill and asked not to be on site
4. Establish ways to check in on students while they are out a. Encourage students to make use of friends and family as support network for daily needs or in the event of more serious needs to travel to emergency services
The School will do the following in the event of a more widespread outbreak:
1. Notify the CDC and BPHC and work with both organizations to implement recommended course of action
2. Emergency notification with instructions will be issued via all of the following: emergency text messaging system (sign up at: http://smfa.ssalert.com/SchoolSystemAlert/tabid/36/Default.aspx; notice posted on the main page of the SMFA Web site; e-mail; notice posted on the main page of mySMFA
3. Staff and Faculty
i. Plan in place in the event of large numbers of Faculty or Staff absences due to illness (or those who are care givers to family members)
