Dana Portillo, School Health Coordinator for the Department of Health Monroe and the Monroe County School District, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about school health.
The Heiken application process has started.
Portillo said, “It’s very exciting. I was a school nurse at Key West High School for 10 years, and during that period, I learned all about the screening process for hearing and vision and height and weight. We do those for our elementary and middle school students, certain age groups and I learned about being able to link families to community resources. But one of the things that I learned that was just so impressive to me was something called Heiken, that is related to Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and it is a group that comes from Miami on a bus to see students whose families have signed them up for a free, and I hate to use the word free, because it’s never free. Somebody pays for it, but it’s not our families, eye exam, and if they needed a free pair of eyeglasses. When I tell you that 15 years ago, if I had 25 kids who signed up for it at my school, I felt like I had really done a great thing. This year, we had almost 1,100 applications in just over a month in our county. So those are families who their lives can be changed. I know the first time I got a pair of eyeglasses, I didn’t even have truly bad vision, but I remember seeing the different numbers of leaves on a tree instead of a green blob or whatever. I can only imagine the kids who really can’t see, about how hard it is to go through their day to day life and to sit in a classroom and try to learn when you don’t see those things. So when you see better, you learn better. When you hear better, you learn better. It’s an exciting time, I think, to be a school nurse or someone who can help link those resources to families. It’s just great, and they’re coming, I believe it’s next week, and the week after that. One thing I do want to share, the nurses have received information from Heiken, so they will share those with the families who have signed up. So if your family makes too much money, which is hard to even imagine, but there are some that do. They won’t be eligible. There are very few of those throughout the whole county, but also families who have vision insurance have qualified, but they won’t be seen this first round, or possibly not at all, depending on the state funding. So they are prioritizing families that do not have any kind of vision insurance, and that is still well over 700, so a lot of kids are still going to have some pretty exciting times coming up, and then they’ll get those glasses a few weeks later.”
School health screenings are winding down.
Portillo said, “We have a requirement from the state to do screenings for kindergarten, first, third and sixth graders. We have, I believe, two more screenings set up for the Lower Keys. One is still kind of in process in the Upper Keys, as one nurse kind of does it herself with the assistance of a nursing student or two. And then we will do the Upper Keys charter schools sometime in January or February. That’s just kind of traditionally when we do it, it’s a lot of planning that has to go into that. But we have been making great progress, and we’re flying through it. We do coordinate with the College of the Florida Keys for their nursing program, so those students actually have some clinical time in the schools, working in community health. So it’s always very helpful to meet those people who will graduate shortly and be nurses with us in the front line, to some extent, soon. But it’s a great time and very successful. We’re doing great things.”
Type 1 diabetes is also part of the screening process.
Portillo said, “Diabetes is not something new, even type 1 diabetes is not something new. But even though I’ve been a nurse 26 years, I still learn new things every day about either different approaches with the type 1 diabetics, where they always used to call that the diabetes of childhood, and you don’t even have to be a child to be diagnosed with it anymore, where, basically they believe the working theory is that you get some sort of an illness, probably a viral illness, and then your body becomes overwhelmed, your pancreas just gets ticked off and says, I’m done. I’m not doing this anymore. At that time, it used to be that people just got insulin. I don’t want to say ‘just got’ because it’s a life changing experience. You have to adjust your diet forever. You are constantly thinking in math, what is my carbohydrate ratio to my insulin? So much involved. When I talk about learning new things, they are, some of these kids have pills as well, or some of the shots that people in general are taking for weight loss, some of those also make a difference with your blood sugar. So I mean, there’s so many approaches to control and to better quality of life that is just amazing. But one of the other things is really looking at what else plays a role in who becomes type 1 diabetic. So one of the Florida Statutes this year that was approved is all about linking access to care to identification of family members who may have type 1 diabetes before they get so sick, before they end up in a coma or in the hospital getting this diagnosis. So what this is doing is identifying resources for family members, close family members, of someone who’s a type 1 diabetic so that they can do a screening process. It could be a blood test. It could be, I believe, saliva, because they have home tests that you can do and FedEx back. So that would not be blood, or I would be surprised if it’s blood, just to identify who has those higher risk factors. And then possibly get that information before it’s a desperate time. But they do know now that people who have a close relative who also has type 1 diabetes, it increases your chances of having it as well.”
The bike helmet program is also important.
Portillo said, “I do want to clarify, even though I did do one of the trainings to receive the training, and I’m very aware of it, I don’t oversee it, so I don’t want to take credit for something I’m not doing. TalleyAnne Reeb was my predecessor in this current role, and she was my boss for 10 years when I was a school nurse. So she has filled many roles and has her hands in many little projects, but this is one that they’re coordinating with Ashley Ravelo at Head Start at the school district to make sure that all these preschool kids have the opportunity to get a free helmet that does fit for them. So that will be rolling out, actually, probably about now, because I think October was going to be their start time. So there’s a lot of education that goes with that, because we do want to make everyone as safe as possible and get those resources. It’s not like they can run over to Kmart and get one anymore. That’s not an option. And even then it didn’t fit. I mean, there was not a fitting process involved, so it’s really good. We’re just trying to have some community outreach and safety and encourage all the physical activity, because it’s so good for our minds and our bodies.”
The state immunization report is due at the end of the month.
Portillo said, “We are notoriously in great shape. I think that we have the benefit of having smaller schools, of having nurses in our schools who oversee, who reach out to families about compliance and helping out with scheduling appointments, or whatever those resources are that families need to be in compliance. So we’re in great shape. We’ve always been in great shape. We’re going to be set. It’s just kind of a technicality at this point for me to get the information, also from our private schools, because I don’t oversee them. I just oversee this one aspect of that. But everything I’ve received so far, we’re in great shape, and we will be done on time. So it’s a bit of a challenge currently, throughout the nation, throughout the state, there’s conversations about immunizations, and I think identifying what information is true and what can be trusted and what parents want for their kids and I think the biggest message that we really have to pass on is just that the state of Florida recognizes the parents rights to make those decisions for their kids, and even though it’s overwhelming for me, perhaps, as a public health perspective, because I know what I would want and what makes me feel comfortable, but I don’t make those choices for other people, and we have always had the opportunity to have something called a religious exemption, where parents can opt out of vaccines, or opt out of certain vaccines. That is not going away. I do believe that there will be a change to it, to add in, like a personal belief exemption or something, but it is still the same concept. You don’t want your child to be vaccinated, they won’t be vaccinated that. And as long as you have the appropriate form from the Department of Health, your child can be in school and daycares and all of that. So that’s already set in place. Then there will be some changes coming down the pike about, which vaccines are still going to be required for school and which ones are going to be more kind of the optional or recommended, and that will be the tetanus and the MMR and the polio vaccines. But like I said, if you don’t want your child to be vaccinated, you have those options. But our biggest role is just to make sure that we can connect with resources to provide some education, but not to try to sway anybody. That’s not the goal, but also to help you make sure that the vaccines that you want for your child that you can get at no out of pocket cost.”
For more information, click here: https://monroe.floridahealth.gov/