Teachers' Group Votes Against Helping Children w/Diabetes

Nurses Safety

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my sister sent this to me and i just wondered if anyone else had heard about this and what they thought of it. she has a 12year old son with diabetes and she has fought with the school system over and over trying to get someone to help him if he has some type of reaction. they won't give him any type of help if he needs it- basically will let him (god forbid) die or go into a coma because they are not willing to learn how to give a shot. :angryfire my sister has told them she will sign a paper saying it is ok for them to do whatever is necessary to help him if something happens but they still won't budge. she had to teach her 11 year old son and 5 year old daughter how to care for him and give him a shot if he ever has a reaction at school and can't help himself. -sad isn't it?

the american federation of teachers will convene on july 13 for their annual meeting, at which they will vote on a resolution that opposes allowing school personnel who are not nurses to provide any diabetes care at school. the ada has a major action alert going on about this today, and i wanted all of you to be aware and take action.

please read the following, and take a moment to click on the link and send letter of protest to the american federation of teachers.

please also forward this action alert to others. we need to raise awareness and fast.thank you!

teachers' group votes against diabetes

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as a person caring for children with diabetes, you have a very personal understanding of

why we must manage diabetes so carefully. please take a moment, read this,

and take action to help protect children with diabetes.

kids with diabetes must be kept safe and must be able to manage their

diabetes while they are in school or at school-related activities. to help

them do this, it is vital that an adult be present to assist younger or less experienced students with routine diabetes care

tasks or to come to the aid of any student experiencing a diabetes

emergency.

in a perfect world, a school nurse would be available for every student,

anywhere, any time. in fact, the american diabetes association supports

having a full-time nurse in every school. sadly, we live in a world where

most schools do not have a full-time school nurse. and even when a school

does a have full-time nurse, he or she is not usually present on field trips

or during extracurricular activities. even if they are, they can't be

expected to be everywhere a student with diabetes might be all the time.

but as we know, diabetes is a full-time disease

the country's top pediatric endocrinologists and nurses have come up with a

safe solution: train other school personnel to provide diabetes care when a

school nurse is not present.

experience has shown us that there is no shortage of school staff willing to

volunteer to provide this care. and we know that they can be trained to

effectively provide the assistance our children need. the only problem is

that sometimes state laws and policies prevent them from doing so.

unfortunately, at its convention starting on july 13th, the million-member

american federation of teachers (aft) is going to vote on a resolution that

opposes allowing school personnel who are not nurses to provide any diabetes

care at school. the resolution states in part that:

* the aft will lobby against school nurses training non-medical school

personnel to assist children with their diabetes care; and

* the aft will lobby against the use of non-medical school personnel

trained to administer routine and emergency care to students with diabetes.

this plan is a disaster for our students with diabetes. our children are

going back to school next month and there won't be a nurse in most of their

schools. they will go on field trips and will be in the band and will play

on the football team and there won't be a nurse available

our children need someone available who can provide the help they need.

let the aft know that the safety of students with diabetes is at risk before

their national convention convenes on july 13th. click here to take action:

https://secure2.convio.net/adap/site/advocacy?id=412&page=useraction&jservse

Mermaid, most people are responding to the OP who says she wants the teachers to be able to give a shot.

Most teachers I know, especially if warned of a child's potential problem WILL call 911 for a change in mental status. That is VERY different from actually providing medical intervention.

And the school districts my kids went to, teachers were well educated about signs of abuse and referred those kids the the school social workers.

Just for the sake of clarity, I am not a teacher, nor do I represent teachers in some way. I just happen to fully support the position of the AFT.

I also fully support the position of the AFT and think that their position actually supports the need for nurses in the schools. Who better to provide the care than nurses!

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