My name is Jillian Amrich and I am currently an AmeriCorps VISTA working with the Volunteer and Donations Coordinator at the Recovery School District. After spending time working in the public schools of New Orleans last year I decided to take on this position in order to learn more about the education system while helping a city I have become deeply connected with. I recently moved here from Massachusetts vibrant and ready to get started, but immediately realized that the needs in schools, although sometimes simple are too great to overcome unless people come together. One significant issue schools are facing is the shortage of nurses in each building. As the Recovery School District works to rebuild an entire school system while reinventing the way we educate urban youth many questions of how to distribute resources in the schools have arisen. Currently we cannot increase the number of nurses in the system. We can however, work towards lessening some of the first aid issues that nurses address by providing teachers with basic first aid kits that enable them to help students with the minor ailments that arise throughout the day. My service experience has heightened my awareness of how powerful the impact can be when communities reach out to each other. Therefore, I ask that you please take the time to look over the following information and think about the ways your community can work with the school community of New Orleans to help rebuild a great American city.
Mission
To involve fellow communities in the recovery efforts of New Orleans public schools, by creating first aid kits for classrooms in order to provide accessible resources to teachers and lessen the current burden for nurses who must work in more than one school.
The Need
Often times the best way to lessen a large scale issue is to alleviate some of the smaller root causes. In this case, when confronted with a nurse shortage, the best resolution seems to be providing teachers with the resources that enable them to deal with basic first aid ailments that might arise in their classroom. With the inability of nurses to be in each school all day, there is no longer such thing as being “sent to the nurse”. Therefore there must be a way for teachers to compensate for the discrepancy of nurses in the schools. If teachers were equipped with first aid kits they would be able to better provide students with their basic first aid needs; such as band-aids, ice packs, disposable gloves etc. If nurses were able to shift their focus from minor bumps and aches in the school they would be able to better attend to the daily health issues teachers are not qualified to address. Not only would first aid kits in the classroom alleviate burdens on school nurses but it would also lessen the stresses teachers experience from having students enter and exit the classroom, and furthermore ease the distracted first grader who can only concentrate on the knee that was scrapped during recess.
How You Can Help Operation Band-Aid
Whether you work in healthcare or are a teacher or even a parent I’m sure you understand the importance of access to basic first aid for children throughout the day. Likewise I’m sure you can sympathize with how it is often the simple resources, such as a band aid that resolve minor aches and bumps that arise throughout the day. By helping through donations of some of the resources needed to make first aid kits you are helping nurses, teachers and students better progress through the school day. In addition by easing the burden on the school community through these first aid kits you will also be helping to create the more holistic school environment needed for the safety of the students. If you feel inspired by these efforts to provide teachers with first aid kits, please consider the ways you can help through donations. One way is through the actual donation of the items needed for the kits. However if shipping the supplies to New Orleans becomes too costly then donations can be made in the form of gift cards to places such as Wal-Mart where the Volunteer and Donations Coordinator, Troy Peloquin, can buy these items. And finally checks can be made out to the Recovery School District. We thank you in advance for any contribution you may be able to make.
Items needed for the First Aid Kits:
- Band-aids (assorted) – Gauze (large or 4×4’s)
- Hand Sanitizer – Stem strips (butterfly strips)
- Current First aid book/flip chart – Disposable gloves (non-latex)
- Ace bandage (S,M, or L) – Splint sets
- Slings
“In this life we cannot do great things, we can only do small things with great love” Mother Teresa