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Infection Control

Douglas County School District’s
Infection Control Plan

Potential outbreaks in a school environment can be extremely detrimental to student and staff health, not to mention interruptive to the educational process. The spread of these infections is increased as a result of students and staff interacting with each other in a fairly confined space for hours each day. The various touch points such as doorknobs, handles, sinks, desks/chairs, sporting equipment and books allow microbes to pass from one individual to another seamlessly. The ease of transmission in a school setting requires that all steps should be taken by all levels of Douglas County School District to react, respond, and minimize all potential impacts quickly and effectively.

When an infectious outbreak has already been detected in a school/office setting, steps need to be taken to effectively disinfect the affected surfaces in a timely manner. These actions will not only provide crucial infection elimination and control, but also provide non-infected students, staff, and parent’s peace of mind that infection is not running rampant inside the building. These steps are taken to effectively disinfect impacted school facilities and transportation.

Douglas County School District's Highly Infectious Disease Response Plan (HIDRP) and Infection Control Plan are two elements of an overall prevention and response plan. The district and schools should also:

  • Encourage sick students and staff to stay home and seek medical attention for severe illness.
  • Facilitate hand hygiene by supplying soap and paper towels and teaching good hand hygiene practices.
  • Educate students and staff regarding proper respiratory etiquette such as using a tissue or coughing into their arm as opposed to their hand.
  • Be vigilant about cleaning and disinfecting classroom materials and surfaces.
  • Provide messages in daily/weekly/monthly announcements about preventing infectious disease.
  • Adopt healthy practices such as safe handling of food and use of standard precautions when handling body fluids and excretions.
  • Encourage students and staff to get annual influenza vaccinations.

For more information regarding the districts response to potential outbreaks in our schools please contact the Environmental Health Manager Zach Nannestad, 303-387-0467.