With Nuclear Station Close By, Schools Look To Update KI Protocol Cape News, MARY PETIET | 19 Apr 15 The Bourne School District has policies and procedures in place to administer potassium iodide pills to students and staff in the event of a nuclear disaster at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in the neighboring town of Plymouth.
The school committee is taking steps to help streamline the permission protocol that allows parents to authorize the schools to administer the pills to their children. The district is also breaking apart the policy and procedures so that the procedures will be readily available to parents as part of the district’s online student handbook.
According to the state Department of Public Health, “Those within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant and may be exposed to radiation from a nuclear emergency should take a drug [KI] that would help protect them from thyroid cancer.”
The Bourne school Policy for the Preparation and Distribution of KI states, “Upon recommendation of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, The Bourne Public Schools agree to stockpile Potassium Iodide (KI) tablets for administration to students and employees in the event of a nuclear emergency during school hours. All efforts will be made to administer the Potassium Iodide in a timely manner, however prompt evacuation is of the utmost priority.”
The school committee is currently considering a change in the policy and the procedure around the possible administration of KI. Previously, these have been bound together, but Bourne High School nurse and lead nurse for the district Catherine Crosby-Norton said that Bourne schools are currently seeking to separate KI policy from procedure.
“The policy and the procedure don’t belong together. The policy in the case of a nuclear emergency is to treat students and staff with KI. The procedure outlines how this is done,” Ms. Crosby-Norton said………
Also under consideration by the school committee is the annual signing of permission slips by parents for possible administration of KI in the case of a nuclear mishap during school hours.
Ms. Siroonian said the district will continue to notify parents of KI procedures, but that the permission slip allowing students to receive KI will now need to be signed only once………
If the unimaginable should occur, trained school nurses would administer the dosage of “One (1) KI tablet for each registered student who has parent/guardian consent on file in the nurse’s office to receive KI,” the school policy states. After the dosage the recipient’s hand would be marked with a K in permanent black marker. The policy notes that the best location to administer the dosage is in the classroom, but adds that in case the recommendation is not received prior to an evacuation, the kits, including the tablets and permission sheets, must accompany the student body.
According to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, “It is important to note that KI only protects the thyroid. Numerous other radionuclides may be released in an accident situation and KI would not protect individuals from these other types of radioactivity. The primary method of protection is evacuation and sheltering-in-place, and KI should be viewed as an adjunct to these primary measures.”………http://www.capenews.net/bourne/news/with-nuclear-station-close-by-schools-look-to-update-ki/article_fc9f29e2-e478-11e4-814a-e71ceb8dd4c2.html
