Student Health Information and Forms

The CDC encourages schools to be ready to effectively manage students with known food allergies and be prepared to respond effectively to the emergency needs of students who are not known to have food allergies.

Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. Symptoms can affect several areas of the body, including breathing and blood circulation.

Food allergy is the most common cause of anaphylaxis, although several other allergens – such as insect stings, medications or latex – can be potential triggers.

Epinephrine is a synthetic form of the hormone adrenaline. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved it as a safe and highly effective medication that can reverse severe allergy symptoms.

Epinephrine is the first-line treatment for anaphylaxis.

A single-use injectable device that delivers a fixed dose of epinephrine.

Because the risk of death or serious disability from anaphylaxis itself usually outweighs other concerns, existing studies clearly favor the benefit of epinephrine administration in most situations. There are no medical conditions which absolutely prohibit the use of epinephrine when anaphylaxis occurs (Boyce, 2010).

While initial symptoms respond to epinephrine, someone who has received epinephrine may still need more treatment for the allergic reaction. Therefore, it is imperative that following the administration of epinephrine, the student be transported by emergency medical services (EMS) to the nearest hospital emergency department even if the symptoms appear to have resolved.

It is a requirement that all CISD campus, food services and bus driver staff attend and participate in a generalized training on an overview and basic instruction on how to identify and take emergency action in the event of an allergic or anaphylactic reaction.

The campuses' unlicensed clinic backup team is provided with more comprehensive training.

The epinephrine auto-injectors will be available at your school campus during the school work day.

The epinephrine auto-injectors will not be taken off campus for any off-campus event.

Students with known anaphylactic reactions, and with prescribed epinephrine, will need to provide the campus clinic with their individual epinephrine and their physician action plan, per CISD’s food allergy management plan.

Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others.

In an overdose, the person’s bodily functions begin to slow, including the impulse to breathe. The person may become non-responsive or exhibit blueness around the fingertips, mouth or eyelids, skin will be cold and clammy and pupils will be pinpoint. An opioid overdose can lead to brain damage or even death.

An opioid antagonist blocks the effects of the opioid to stop the overdose.

Nasal Naloxone (Narcan) is an opioid antagonist that is a highly effective opioid overdose treatment. It blocks the effects of the opioid to stop the overdose. If an opioid overdose is suspected, an unassigned opioid antagonist, such as nasal naloxone, can be administered by trained staff to rapidly reverse the effects of the overdose in 2-3 minutes.

The Texas Health and Safety Code allows a person authorized to prescribe an opioid antagonist, like a medical doctor, to prescribe the antagonist to a person at risk of experiencing an opioid related drug overdose. A prescription can also be issued to a family member, friend, or other person in a position to assist a person at risk of experiencing an opioid-related drug overdose. An organization acting under a standing order issued by a prescriber may store and distribute an opioid antagonist as long as the organization does not request or receive compensation for storage or distribution. Tex. Health & Safety Code §§ 483.102, .104.

Yes. As required by the Texas Legislature, the Texas Medical Board (TMB) established guidelines for unassigned opioid antagonist medication that went into effect July 8, 2018. During the public comment period for these rules, the Texas School Nurses Organization requested that school nurses be expressly included as persons who may be prescribed an opioid antagonist. TMB responded that they believe the language “other person in a position to assist a person at risk for an opioid related drug overdose” was “adequate to address the issue of school nurses being prescribed opioid antagonists.” In a later response to a comment on documentation from the Texas Medical Association, TMB recommended that standing orders made to “law enforcement officers or a group like school nurses . . .” should be maintained in a stand-alone file in the prescribing physician’s office. In other words, the TMB seemed to assume, without issuing written clarification or revisions to the guidelines, that school nurses are eligible for a standing order for opioid antagonist medication. 22 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 170.6-.9.

A person who, acting in good faith and with reasonable care, administers or does not administer an opioid antagonist to another person whom the person believes is suffering an opioid-related drug overdose is not subject to criminal prosecution, sanction under any professional licensing statute, or civil liability, for an act or omission resulting from the administration of or failure to administer the opioid antagonist. Health and Safety Code 483.106 When someone gets nasal naloxone without the overdose, there’s nothing to worry about. Nasal naloxone has no effect or side effect on people who have no opioid drugs in their system. It’s a safe drug that’s only effective when administered properly on a person experiencing an opioid overdose.

Yes, Cleveland ISD clinic staff, as well as every district police officer, Director of Transportation, Assistant Directors of Transportation, and designated staff are all trained on the signs of an opioid overdose and administration of nasal naloxone.