Both faculty lounges at West Canada schools in Herkimer County have been converted into sick waiting rooms to handle the wave of students with H1N1 virus.

A record 220 student absences were logged the third week of September, including those who stayed away for precautionary reasons, according to high school math teacher and local union president Joe Frank.

By Sept. 21, faculty members began reporting the illness.

"It's spreading quickly," said Frank, president of the 86-member West Canada Valley Teachers Association. Furniture and vending machines were removed from the high school and the elementary school lounges, which were furnished with cots and blankets so sick students can be isolated until parents come to get them.

Across the state, school districts vary from no reported cases of the H1N1 virus to dozens of ill students. With the Centers for Disease Control's prediction of a resurgence of the flu, especially in schools, it is keeping school nurses busier than usual.

"The message is to be vigilant," said Anne Goldman, chair of NYSUT's Health Care Professionals Council and special nursing representative to the United Federation of Teachers. "For flu-like symptoms and underlying issues, people need to get help quicker."

In Syracuse, school nurse Anne O'Hara was experiencing the first case of the flu in her building since the start of school.

Like most cases, this one hit suddenly, sickening an elementary student in the middle of the mid-September day.

"It can come on like a freight train," said O'Hara, a registered nurse with the Syracuse TA and a member of NYSUT's Health Care Professionals Council.

After diagnosing the student, she fitted an N95 mask on his face — a particulate filter respirator and surgical mask — to prevent further spread of the flu, and called his parents.

As for the health of the rest of the class, it's literally up in the air.

"He's been exposed in a small space and it's airborne, so there's no guarantee," O'Hara said.

Each day, O'Hara and the other school nurses in her district send faxes tracking the flu to the school district central office, where the information is collated and sent to the Onondaga County Health Department.

A dual-language parent information letter about H1N1 was posted before school began.

At the first faculty-staff meeting of the year, O'Hara spoke about H1N1. Next on her schedule is attending the first Parent-Teacher Group meeting of the year.

Nyack school nurse Miriam Lynn said her school is trying to get ahead of H1N1 — which sickened students here last year — with daily announcements about the importance of washing hands with soap and water throughout the day and sneezing into arms.

Lynn, a member of the Nyack TA, has advised faculty what to look for in students, including glassy eyes. The school nurses provide daily updates to the Rockland County Health Department.

At Transit Middle School near Buffalo, school nurse Mary Weis said all health offices have been stocked with masks, and the district supplied a brochure on the virus for parents at open house.

Staff were given fact sheets listing what they need to know about the H1N1 virus, including making allowances for students who are sick.

Added to the long list of traditional duties at the start of the school year -— checking student immunization records and medical information, updating staff on student medical issues and stocking medicines — dealing with a spreading virus, as this district did last year, has a major impact.

"Giving good medical care for our students is always first priority, but when you have almost 1,000 students and you are the only nurse in the school, it is very difficult," said Weis, a member of Williamsville TA.

Not enough nurses

The school nurse is often the first to discern if a student has the flu. However, two national surveys reveal there are not enough school nurses to meet federally recommended standards of a nurse for every 750 students — a concern that becomes more relevant in the face of this serious flu.

A National Association of School Nurses survey found that the national ratio was 1,151 students per nurse. Using census data, a USA Today analysis pegs it at one nurse for 971 students.

In the nurses' association survey, New York had 1,007 students for every school nurse.

NYSUT has long lobbied for a state law requiring a school nurse in every school building.

State Health Commissioner Richard Daines recently told the Board of Regents that a shortage of school nurses is a concern.

"As I've traveled around the state for (informational) town hall meetings, school nurses came out in force," Daines said."They're prepared and confident ... The biggest problem is that there are not enough of them."

Especially in times like these, Daines said, "Maybe we ought to review how many resources we put into school nurses."

Daines said schools and colleges remain on the front lines as the state health and education departments are working together to deal with what could be the year's third wave of flu. This latest strain appears to be hitting the young and school-age, rather than the elderly, who may be immune due to a similar virus in 1957.

"We're trying to take a calming approach," Daines said, noting that rather than closing schools, it appears the best containment strategy is for the ill to stay home until the virus has run its course. The vast majority will become mildly ill and should remain "out of action" for five days, he said.

NYSUT Vice President Kathleen Donahue, whose office oversees health issues for the union, said NYSUT will be providing additional training on H1N1.

"Responding to concerns raised by our members as well as our desire to deliver timely and accurate information, we have added sessions to each of our upcoming leadership conferences," she said.

The SRP, BOCES and community college conferences will all have sessions conducted by NYSUT's Health and Safety Specialist, Wendy Hord.

Hord will cover the latest news on the virus, suggested best practices for prevention and cover myths and facts about the potential impact of H1N1.

Inoculation plans

A vaccine should be available this month, with pregnant women, young babies and children ages 6 months to 24 years encouraged to get immunized first.

It will be a challenge for so many people to get immunized quickly, so health officials are looking at ways to expand the number of inoculation sites and those who can give shots.

Education officials reported they expect to have about 2,000 to 3,000 pharmacists certified by mid-October. The pool may be expanded further to include dentists and podiatrists.

Hospital nurses from Brookhaven Memorial on Long Island to Staten Island University Hospital and Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse are also at the ready to deal with the virus.

At Staten Island University Hospital, patient trailers were delivered outside the two facilities to handle any sick people with ILI —influenza-like illness.

Treating patients with ILI symptoms in the trailers will help prevent the spread of the virus to the rest of the hospital staff and patients, said registered nurse Nancy Barth-Miller, chapter leader for the UFT's Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals.

Hospital administrators, she said, are "being very proactive and keeping the union informed."

Local leaders are urging members to safeguard themselves by following state and federal guidelines for caregivers who may be exposed to H1N1.

Standard hospital health care precautions are for good hand hygiene while caring for patients, and before and after removing personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks. Gloves, gowns and face shields or eye protectors should be used as determined by risk of exposure; and an N95 mask should be used for all direct patient care activities.