School teachers, staff, and administrators can have an enormous impact on students’ well-being.
General information
VDH’s Guidelines and Resources for School Staff provides first aid guidance, instructions on healthcare procedures, and school nurse-specific materials. Visit the sections below for more detailed information about key care areas.
Communicable diseases
- VDH provides guidance and recommendations for common communicable diseases on this reference chart. Want more information about communicable diseases? Check out the fact sheet library.
- You can also explore VDH guidance for COVID-19 and safe in-person learning.
- VDH’s COVID-19 guidance for schools and childcare programs features information about testing. Public and private K-12 programs can order COVID-19 test kits through the test kit survey (RHHD provides a similar test kit survey for childcare facilities).
- If you suspect an outbreak of an communicable disease, please report it using RHHD’s Communicable Disease Reporting Portal.
Chronic Disease Control
A pharmacy policy from the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Education allows all Virginia public schools to obtain vital supplies like EpiPens, inhalers, or spacers. For more information about the policy and to order supplies, visit the Pharmacy School Orders website.
Substance Use and Overdose
RHHD’s opioid overdose prevention website provides information on overdose prevention, training, naloxone distribution and recovery resources. Public schools can access prescription naloxone at no cost.
Cardiac Emergencies: Information & Training
Maintaining a cardiac response team and a cardiac emergency response plan will help you be prepared in the event of a cardiac emergency.
- Virginia Code requires public schools to have crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plans, as well as staff certified in CPR, AED, first aid, and other emergency protocol. The code also provides training options for that certification. Private school programs should confer with their licensing and accrediting agency, the Virginia Council of Private Education, for regulations governing their health and safety protocols.
- The Virginia Department of Education provides guidance for Virginia public K-12 school divisions as well as accredited non-public K-12 programs for achieving staff certification in emergency first aid, CPR, and AED use.
- Consider access to Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s) as part of your plan, with routine maintenance of equipment per manufacturer’s recommendations. The American Red Cross provides additional training for the use and maintenance of AEDs.
- The American Heart Association and Project Adam offer additional resources for cardiac emergencies, including emergency plan templates and training opportunities.
