School Health and Safety
Children spend most of their waking day at school. When a child wheezes in class, collapses on the sports field or runs a fever in the sick bay, what happens in the first minutes depends on the staff, the plan and the phone numbers on the wall. Limi Children's Hospital works with schools, crèches and daycares in Abuja to get all three ready before they are needed.
Why Every School Needs a Health Plan
In every school of a few hundred children there are children with asthma, allergies, sickle cell disease and epilepsy, and every term brings injuries and infections. Most days pass quietly. The day that does not is the one a school plans for.
Asthma
One of the most common long-term conditions in children. An attack is usually manageable in minutes with a reliever inhaler and spacer, if the inhaler is in the classroom and not locked in an office.
Serious Allergy
A reaction to groundnut, egg, fish or an insect sting can become life-threatening within minutes. Staff need to recognise it and know exactly what to do.
Sickle Cell Disease
Nigeria has more children with sickle cell disease than any other country. Water, warmth, rest and a fast response to fever or chest pain keep these children safe in school.
Epilepsy and Diabetes
A seizure or a low blood sugar is frightening to watch. Staff who know the child's plan act calmly and correctly.
Injuries
Falls from play equipment, head bumps, choking at lunch, burns in science and kitchen areas, and road injuries at the gate.
Outbreaks
Diarrhoea, chickenpox, measles, conjunctivitis and flu-like illness spread quickly in classrooms and dormitories. Clear exclusion rules protect everyone.
What We Do with Schools
We start with what your school needs. The school health team works with schools in five areas, and agrees with each school what happens, where and when.
Health Screening Days
Simple checks, at the school or at the hospital as agreed, that pick up problems which affect learning and health:
- Growth: height and weight measured and plotted, to spot children who are underweight, overweight or not growing.
- Vision: a sight test with an eye chart; many children with poor sight do not know it.
- Hearing: a screening test for children who may not be hearing well in class.
- Teeth: a dental check for decay and gum problems.
Screening is only done with parents' written consent. Each family receives their own child's results privately, with clear advice on what to do next. The school receives only what parents agree to share.
Hands-on First Aid and CPR for Staff
Sessions for teachers, classroom assistants, drivers, kitchen and security staff. Reading about first aid is not the same as practising it, so staff spend the session doing:
- Practising CPR for a child and an infant on training manikins, in small groups.
- Back blows and chest or abdominal thrusts for choking, by age.
- The recovery position, and what to do during and after a seizure.
- Using a reliever inhaler with a spacer, and recognising a serious allergic reaction.
- Bleeding, burns, head injuries, broken bones and nosebleeds.
- Most important of all: when to call parents, and when to go to an emergency department without waiting.
The school health team agrees the format and group size with you. Ask about certification if your school needs it.
Health Policies Staff Can Follow
We help you write policies that staff can follow on a busy day:
- Medicines at school: written parental consent, original labelled packs, storage, who gives them, and records.
- Emergency plans: who does what, how a child is transported, the route to Limi Children's Hospital (and the nearest emergency department if you cannot get there quickly), and how parents are called.
- Outbreak and exclusion guidance: how long a child with diarrhoea, chickenpox, measles or conjunctivitis should stay home, and when to tell other parents.
- The sick bay: what it should hold, and when a child should go home.
- Heat, water and sun: drinking water, shade and outdoor activity in the hottest months.
A Clear Route for Children Who Need Care
When a school nurse or teacher is worried about a child, the next step is simple. We agree with each school how concerns reach parents, how the child is seen at the hospital, and how, with parents' consent, the school learns what it needs to support the child in class.
Talks for Parents
Short, practical talks at parent meetings or open days on topics parents ask about: fever and malaria, asthma, sickle cell disease, healthy eating and lunch boxes, sleep and screens, development and speech, teenage health, and road and water safety.
Individual Care Plans
A child with a long-term condition should have a one- or two-page plan, written with the parents and the child's doctor, kept in the classroom and the sick bay, and updated every year or when treatment changes. A good plan answers these questions:
| Section | What it says |
|---|---|
| About the child | Name, photo, class, date of birth, the condition, and who to call. |
| Every day | Medicines at school and who gives them; food, drink and toilet needs; any limits on sport. |
| Warning signs | What an attack, crisis, reaction or low blood sugar looks like in this child. |
| What to do | Step by step, including which emergency medicine to give, where it is kept, and who is trained. |
| When to go to emergency | The signs that mean take the child to Limi Children's Hospital now (or the nearest emergency department if you cannot get there quickly), without waiting for parents. |
| Trips, exams and boarding | What changes away from school, during exams, and at night for boarders. |
| Sign-off | Parent, school and doctor, with the date and the date for review. |
For children cared for at Limi Children's Hospital, the care team writes or reviews the school plan when parents ask. Parents can use our "About my child" card for every child.
What a School Emergency Plan Looks Like
A plan staff can follow without thinking, printed and pinned in every classroom, the staff room and the sick bay.
Go to Emergency Now
Take the child to Limi Children's Hospital, or the nearest emergency department if you cannot get there quickly. Call parents on the way. Do not wait for them to arrive.
- Not breathing, or struggling to breathe
- Not waking properly, or collapsed
- A fit lasting more than 5 minutes, a first fit, or a fit with an injury
- Swelling of the face, lips or tongue, wheeze or collapse after food or a sting
- Head injury followed by vomiting, drowsiness, confusion or a fit
- Bleeding that does not stop with firm pressure
- Swallowed a poison, medicine or chemical
- A child with sickle cell disease who has a temperature of 38 °C or more, chest pain, breathing difficulty or sudden weakness
Call Parents to Collect
The child needs a doctor today
- Temperature 38 °C or more (except sickle cell disease: go to emergency)
- Vomiting or diarrhoea
- A rash with a fever
- Asthma symptoms that needed the reliever more than once
- Limping or unable to use an arm after a fall
- Red, sticky eyes
Usually Fine at School
Tell parents at pick-up
- A small graze or cut, cleaned and covered
- A bump on the head with no warning signs, watched for an hour
- A nosebleed that stops with pressure
- A mild tummy ache that settles
- A named first aider on every site, every day. With a deputy for when they are away.
- Emergency transport agreed in advance. Which vehicle, which driver, and a second adult to sit with the child and watch their breathing.
- The address of Limi Children's Hospital, how to get there at night, and the nearest emergency department if you cannot get to Limi quickly, written down.
- Every child's "About my child" card in the sick bay, with parents' numbers and medical details, taken with the child.
- Emergency medicines (inhalers, spacers, adrenaline auto-injectors if prescribed) in a known place, not locked away, checked every term.
- A written record of what happened and what was given, handed to the parents and the hospital.
When you bring a child to Limi Children's Hospital, call 0813 408 5400 on the way so the team can prepare. For what to do in the first minutes, see first aid for children.
How to Start Working with Us
- You call. Ask for the school health team, and tell us about your school: ages, numbers, and what you are most worried about.
- We talk it through. What you already have in place, what staff want to learn, and what parents ask about.
- We agree a plan. Which activities, where they happen, when, and what your school and the hospital each do.
- It happens. Screening, training, a policy review or a parents' talk.
- We follow up. Screening results go to families, children who need care are referred, and the plan is reviewed each year.
Call the School Health Team
There is no form to fill in. Call either number below and ask for the school health team. If they are with patients, leave your name, your school and a number, and they will call you back.
Limi Children's Hospital, 39 Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Wuse 2, Abuja. For health professionals referring a child, see how to refer.
For Teachers and Parents to Share
Free, printable guides from our parent library.
Back to School: The Health and Safety Checklist for Each Term
Health checks, a printable card for the school, what a child with asthma, allergy, sickle cell, epilepsy or diabetes needs, and safety each term.
Checklist First aidChoking in Babies and Children: What to Do
Illustrated steps for a choking baby and a choking child, what never to do, and the foods and objects to keep away.
First aid GuideAsthma in Children: Inhalers, Spacers, Triggers and Attacks
Reliever and preventer inhalers, using a spacer, a printable action plan, and what to do in an attack.
16 min read GuideSickle Cell Disease in Children: Staying Well and Knowing the Emergencies
Genotype, the daily plan that prevents crises, and the emergencies that cannot wait.
15 min read GuideAllergies in Children: Food, Anaphylaxis, Harmattan and Stings
Food allergy signs, what to do in anaphylaxis, early groundnut for babies, testing, and living with allergy.
14 min read ChecklistFirst Aid Kit Checklist for Families
A printable home and car first aid kit list, what to throw out, and a school-bag kit for children with asthma, allergies or sickle cell.
ChecklistQuestions Schools Ask
What does it cost?
Cost depends on what your school needs. Ask the school health team: they talk through the options and the cost with you before anything is agreed.
Do you come to the school?
Staff training and parents' talks run at your school or at the hospital, whichever suits you. Other activities work better at the hospital. We agree the venue with each school.
We are a small crèche. Is this for us?
Yes. Babies and toddlers in group care need staff who can manage choking, fever, fits and safe sleep. We scale plans and training to a small setting.
How are children's results and information kept private?
Screening needs written consent from parents. Results go to each family; the school receives only what parents agree to share. See our privacy notice.
Is the training a first aid certificate?
The sessions teach the skills and the decisions staff need in an emergency. If your school needs formal certification, ask the school health team about certificate options.
Our school already uses another hospital. Can we still work with you?
Yes. Training, policies and screening are useful whichever hospital a child is taken to. In an emergency, take the child to Limi Children's Hospital, or the nearest emergency department if you cannot get there quickly.
Can a teacher bring a child to the hospital?
In an emergency, yes: take the child to Limi Children's Hospital (or the nearest emergency department if you cannot get there quickly) and call the parents on the way. For anything that is not an emergency, parents should bring their child, or give written consent for someone else to.
Run a School, Crèche or Daycare? Call and Ask for the School Health Team.
If your child is seriously unwell, do not book and do not wait for a message reply. Come to Limi Children's Hospital now, day or night, or go to the nearest emergency department if you cannot get here quickly. Have someone else drive if you can, so you can watch your child, and call 0813 408 5400 on the way so the team can prepare. See the signs that mean go now.