Health and Wellness

Standards & Regulations

CHILD ILLNESS

The general health and safety of every child enrolled at Reaching for Rainbows is of great importance to all of us. We, therefore, must ensure that exposure to communicable illness, so easily spread in early childhood settings, be minimized. To do so, the following policies have been set in place and it is necessary that parents have alternative care arrangements for their child in the event he/she is unable to attend the centre due to illness.
According to the regulations, as defined in the Operator Manual for Full-time and Part-time Early Learning and Childcare Centres, “an operator of a licensed facility shall require a parent or guardian
of a child receiving services at the licensed facility to
(a) notify the licensed facility if the child will be absent, and
(b) indicate whether the absence is due to illness or otherwise.

If a child is ill while receiving services at a licensed facility, an operator shall
(a) provide supervised care to the child in an area separate from the other children
(b) notify the child’s parent or guardian and require that the child be picked upwithin one hour of notification, and
(c) obtain the necessary medical assistance, if required.

If a child has or may be affected by a disease, that is required to be reported under the Public Health Act and the regulations under that Act by the operator of a licensed facility, the operator shall
(a) complete the forms provided by the Minister, and
(c) inform all parents or guardians, of the children, that a child has or may be affected by the disease.” (Section 11: Health – Management of Illness, Operator Manual for Full-time and Part-time Early Learning and Childcare Centres, 2018).

NOTE: We ask that you please keep your child home if he/she shows any of the following symptoms of communicable illness:

• Diarrhea
• Headache
• Heavy nasal discharge
• Fever
• Persistent cough
• Sore throat
• Abdominal pain
• Reddened eyes

Unfortunately, it does sometimes happen that a child does not show any of the previously mentioned symptoms and therefore may attend the centre, exposing other children to a communicable illness. If you do find out that your child has a communicable illness and may have attended the centre during its incubation period, please contact us immediately so that we may notify other parents that their child(ren) may have been exposed.

In January 2020, the Department of Health, Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health in collaboration with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development issued the Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases in Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Facilities. This guide has preventative procedures to ensure the health of all children and
staff. Appendix B, titled New Brunswick Guide for Exclusion of Children in Early Learning and Childcare Facilities will explain the policies and exclusion time frames.

If your child has been isolated from the centre due to illness, he/she may return to the centre only after the fever or other symptoms of illness have subsided.

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES

To help us maintain a healthy environment for all children, you must keep your child home if they show any of the following symptoms:

1. Diarrhea – Your child should not return to the centre until free of watery loose stools for 48 hours.
2. Vomiting – Your child should not return until vomiting has stopped for 24hours.
3. Fever/Temperature – When your child’s temperature is above 38.5 degrees he/she is considered to have a fever. We require children stay home when they present with a fever in combination with another symptom of illness.
4. Head Lice – Your child must be absent until 1st treatment is complete and there is no evidence of live lice/nits.
5. Pink Eye– Your child must see a doctor for prescribed medication and be absent until 24 hours after treatment has commenced and discharge ceased.

Please refer to Exclusion chart for more detailed lists of contagious illnesses and symptoms inthe
attachments.

COMMUNICABLE ILLNESS OUTBREAK RESPONSE

In order to minimize the transmission of communicable illness at the centre and ensure the availability of proper documentation in the event of an outbreak, the following measures will be taken by all staff:

• Ensure that child day care facility attendance records are being maintained daily for each child attending the centre. The infant/toddler daily information sheet must also be maintained for each child, under the age of 24 months, attending the centre.
• A list of all registered children and employees will be maintained, with up-to-date contact information, Medicare numbers and attendance format (i.e. FT, PT or AS), and be available to forward to Public Health in the event of an outbreak.
• A copy of the 4-week cyclic menu will be maintained and available to forward to Public Health in the event of an outbreak, as well as, the source of water supply being used by the
  centre. Any other relevant information must also be addressed to Public Health, such as special events or field trips etc.
• When illness occurs at the centre, the ill child or staff member will be isolated in the office until pickup by parent or guardian. The ill child or staff member will be excluded until, at least, 24hrs after his/her last symptom.
• The child’s parent or guardian will be contacted immediately and advised of the child’s condition as well as the policy to have the child picked up within one hour.
• A “Potential Illness Report Form” will be completed for the child and a copy given to the parent and the other copy shall be placed in the child’s file.
• A copy of “Exclusion Reference Guide” will be given to the parent or guardian, with the explanation of whenexclusion is necessary and notice that the child cannot return until exclusion procedures have been followed.
• If 2 or more cases of diarrhea or vomiting occur within a 48-hour period, a report will be made to the Department of Health at 856-2401. In the event of a case of bloody diarrhea, a report will be made to the Department of Health immediately.
• A notice will be posted to inform parents of the existence of a communicable disease.
• Employees will be alerted to the outbreak and the increased need for scrupulous personal hygiene.
• When there is an outbreak of illness, surfaces that could have become contaminated (such as linens, door handles, rails, bathroom taps and other common surfaces in children’s reach) will be scrupulously cleaned and sanitized. Sanitizer will be doubled during an outbreak of
  illness and well rinsed, in order to prevent a potentially toxic residue on sanitized surface areas.
• The use of hand sanitizer will be increased for staff, visitors and children

Control measures on suspected cases of COVID-19 include: (added to reflect new protocols for
Covid-19)

• In the event of closure due to an outbreak, Public Health will give the directive
• If exclusion/isolation is required, we will ensure that measures are in place to inform parents/guardians and employees of the situation and remind all individuals of how important this control measure is
• Given that proper exclusion/isolation is one of the most important and effective measures in controlling the spread of disease to others, we will provide a designated area to isolate an individual, who becomes symptomatic, while waiting to be picked-up. Pick-up is to occur within
  an hour of notification.
• Parents will be aware and reminded that this is an expectation
• Children demonstrating symptoms of Covid-19 will be immediately separated from others, in a supervised area, until they can go home. Whenever possible, any employee providing care to an
  ill child will maintain a distance of two (2) metres.
• If a 2-metre distance cannot be maintained from an ill child, the child should wear a community mask, whenever circumstances allow.
• Any employees, demonstrating symptoms of Covid-19 will, immediately, isolate from others and wear a community mask until they are able to leave the facility.
• The highest standards of hygiene and respiratory etiquette will be practiced while the ill child/employee is waiting to be picked up.
• Environmental cleaning and disinfection of the isolation area will be conducted once the ill child/employee has left the centre.
• If an outbreak is confirmed, appropriate notices for parents/guardians, will be posted at the main entrance, to ensure that disease information is available for employees and parents/guardians if needed or requested.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURES

All educators and volunteers will be trained in Evacuation/Emergency procedures and will participate in monthly fire evacuation drills. Monthly inspections and maintenance of building facilities are completed to ensure safety is maintained.

The Emergency Evacuation plan is reviewed monthly after drills and every 12 months to take into account any changes in physical location or evacuation procedures.

The following steps will be taken in case of an Emergency Evacuation at the center.

1. A staff member will sound the alarm (and call 911 if possible without delaying evacuation)
2. Each staff member is responsible for the children in their group.
3. When the alarm sounds each staff member will gather the children, carry an attendance sheet & emergency contact list and any special provisions.
4. Staff members will exit the building and proceed to the end of the driveway leading to the marina to confirm ‘head counts’ and await further instruction.
5. The director or her designate will do a check of all washrooms or other common areas, to ensure no one is in the building before exiting. This person should be the last to leave.
6. When all children and staff are accounted for, call 911 if not yet called.
7. In cold weather or when safety requires, once all children and educators are accounted for,
   they will proceed to our designated safe building – The Riverview Parks and Recreation office at 55 Biggs Drive.
8. Under the direction of the director or her designate, parents will be contacted to arrange pick up of their child(ren).