HEADLINES


‘Disabilities’ Conference to Tackle Medications on Bus, Other Pressing Issues


By Ryan Gray Te NAPT Special Needs committee


is seeking guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on how non- medical school employees, such as school bus drivers and aides, may administer Diastat and other anti-seizure medication, a main topic of next month’s Transporting Students with Disabilities and Preschoolers 21st National Exhibition and Conference in Orlando, Fla. In October, California Gov. Jerry Brown


signed legislation that requires training for non- medical staff to administer the epilepsy seizure medication to students when a credentialed school nurse or other emergency personnel are unavailable, such as on school buses. Te law went into effect last month. “Te Diastat issue has been one of the


Attendees take in a session at the 2011 conference in Kansas City, Mo.


concerns for us due to student safety issues,” said Barbara Miller, immediate past president of the California School Nurses Organization, which opposed Senate Bill 161. Te controversial law requires the California Department of


Education to create and post guidelines on its website by July 1. Existing state law already requires school personnel to be medically trained on administering Epi pens to students with diabetes suffering from severe hypoglycemia. Sue Shutrump, NAPT’s Special Needs committee chair and


an occupational therapist for the Turnbull County (Ohio) Educational Service Center, said similar national guidance is necessary from the AAP’s neurology subsection. Shutrump is participating on a March 13 panel moderated by attorney and STN contributor Peggy A. Burns that will explore this topic. Te general session will feature information on intranasal meds for seizure control and new efforts underway in policy development on the who, how, what and when of administering rescue medications. Other confirmed panelists are Cheryl Wolf, a special needs transportation consultant from Indiana, and Nancy Kessler, special needs coordinator for Katy (Texas) ISD. “I really think the neurologists need to understand that, when


they reduce the amount of time before the administration needs to occur, now that’s forcing this Diastat to be given on a school bus and other places,” Shutrump said. “(School bus personnel) don’t even have the time to run and get help; you have to just do it.” She added that schools are increasingly being forced to consider placing a registered nurse or LPN on the school bus with a child


26 School Transportation News Magazine February 2012


whose prescription for anti-seizure drugs is listed on the IEP. “I don’t think that this is what is intended by these neurologists.


Tey’re just not thinking about that when they change the protocol — how this set of criteria is now forcing this Diastat to be given by more and more laypeople in more and more challenging environments,” she said. Te general session in Orlando next month will also cover


other medications that may need to be administered on the school bus. Te issue is one of those best practices being pushed on student transporters even as funding cuts continue to put a stranglehold on operations.


‘READY TO LEARN’ Conference organizer Roseann Schwaderer said this year’s


theme aims to provide answers to staff who are being forced to meet expectations they may not be specifically trained for, especially those who are new to the profession or are succeeding a retiring director or supervisor. “I wanted the 2012 program to be particularly sensitive to


situations that transporters are experiencing with regard to maintaining best practices while having to bow to funding cuts that affect both training and personnel levels,” she said. Schwaderer added that the conference is also “tapping into


ways that service levels don’t need to be compromised given certain approaches to efficiency and management,” and includes curriculum designed to help attendees meet the challenges of managing staff, maintaining positive attitudes and strengthening relationships within and across departments, particularly with special-ed officials and the IEP process.


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