Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
With the consent of their parents or guardians, high school students will receive free flu vaccinations next school year through Linn Count Health Services, and Samaritan Health Services will provide sports medicine services free of charge to high school athletes.
The two programs were approved by the District 55 School Board during its regular meeting Monday night. The board emphasized the need for parental consent with both of these programs.
Flu Vaccine
The flu vaccine will be available to every high school student, said Karen Walker, immunization coordinator with Linn County Health Services. It also will be available to teachers who have it available through their insurance provider but cannot get away or prefer the FluMist style vaccination.
The program will generally use FluMist, an inhalant that’s been on the market for about five years, Walker said. For students who should not use this form of vaccine, standard shots will be available. FluMist recipients breathe normally during administration, and it does not require deliberate inhalation.
This is a special program sponsored by the state of Oregon and the Centers for Disease Control, she said. “They’re looking at decreasing the absenteeism in school.”
This includes students and teachers, Walker said. Children are vectors for infections like the flu, and vaccinating them against the flu can reduce infection throughout a community.
Tammy McCoy, Linn County Health Services nursing supervisor, did not know how many students get flu vaccines right now, but she doesn’t think that many do.
“That’s why we’re making it convenient and bringing it to the schools,” Walker said.
Japan is an isolated country, Walker said, and it started vaccinating everyone against the flu. Eventually, flu was rare, and Japan started vaccinating only children. Flu remained rare, but when Japan stopped its children’s vaccination program, flu gained a foothold.
Research has shown a link between vaccinating children and reducing the amount of flu in a community, Walker and McCoy said. Flu will often be passed among children to family members and then to the community at large, including high-risk members of the population, such as the elderly.
In Oregon, Marion County kindergarteners were vaccinated last year, Walker said. It appeared to result in a small reduction in flu within the community, but it wasn’t statistically significant.
They have no baseline data for Sweet Home in terms of flu cases, Walker said. They’ll be looking for rates of absenteeism to evaluate the program.
Sports Medicine
The new sports medicine program is a joint venture among the School District, Sweet Home High School and Samaritan Health Services through Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital and the Samaritan physical therapy practice in Sweet Home, physical therapist Mark Amendola said.
Under the program, he and Amy Vandetta, a physical therapist and athletic trainer, will visit the high school two days a week to evaluate athletes with injuries, Amendola said. The idea is to catch injuries early and manage the injuries appropriately to make sure athletes don’t get back on the field too soon or wait around too long to get back at it.
Parents often think their children might be the next Michael Jordan, Amendola said. “We try to make sure they don’t ruin their chance to be Michael Jordan.”
Also included in the program will be seminars for coaches on a variety of subjects, from conditioning to diet, he said. The coaches also want an early seminar to learn how to tape their athletes better.
The goal is to educate athletes, parents and coaches, Amendola said.
The program can also save parents money and keep athletes working out even while injured, he said. There’s no need to send an athlete to the doctor if a simple strained muscle can be identified through this program. At the same time, he can sign off on routines that rest the injured part of an athlete’s body but keep the athlete in practice working out the rest of his or her body.
The program won’t make “super athletes,” he said. “They’re going to be better athletes because we’re involved, but my job is to protect the athlete.”
The coaches at SHHS have overwhelmingly supported this program, Athletic Director Dave Goetz told the board. They’ve all agreed to keep their players off the field until the program gives them the green light to play again.
Amendola has worked at two Olympics and with the California Angels, he said. He also has worked with all kinds of high schools and colleges. He ran a program similar to this one in Montana where he spent 13 years before coming to Sweet Home. He has been in Sweet Home for about a year.
The board voted unanimously to approve both of these programs. Present at the meeting were Ken Roberts, Chanz Keeney, Jeff Lynn, Chairman Mike Reynolds, Diane Gerson, Leena Neuschwander, Jason Redick and John Fassler. David VanDerlip was absent.