Posted on 12/05/2008 4:04:47 AM PST by TornadoAlley3
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A first-grader was suspended from school after bringing a package of medical needles to class and several other students and a teacher ended up being pricked.
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It's not known where the 6-year-old student got the needles. It's all a part of the investigation. But for now, the school is working with the health department, making sure every student and staff member is safe and aware, and getting the word out to parents.
"My No. 1 job is to make sure that everyone is safe," said Wheatley Principal Robert Wagner, who has trained to keep kids safe for 35 years.
"These kinds of situations, initially, catch you off-balance," he said. "This is the first time that I've had to deal with anything like this."
At about noon on Tuesday, a teacher's intern who had been pricked by one of the needles reported it to Wagner. Eleven other students had also been pricked.
"I immediately got our nurse involved and had her take a look at them," Wagner said. "We don't know if they'd been used or not."
The needles turned out to be diabetic needles with caps on them -- but most of the caps were missing.
"It was about four of them, I believe and I think there was only one cap," Wagner said.
School officials aren't sure where the student got the needles. According to the school, her family indicated none of them use the needles.
Wagner says most of the students involved were pricked accidentally or playfully, as they didn't realize the severity of the situation.
A note was then sent to notify their parents, and the school nurse contacted them.
"For precautionary measures, they need to get their children checked out," said Dr. Matt Zahn with Metro Health.
The spread of disease is highly unlikely, but with kids so young, how will they understand and learn from this serious situation? Wagner said the school will try, but it's also up to the parents.
"They look at you and they nod like they understand, but I think when the parent sits down with them and explains it to them, hit it from both sides, it hits home," Wagner said.
Diabetic needles? Needles are needles...
How do you accidently prick more than one person...including a teacher?
I feel really sorry for the kids that came home complaining of the pricks at school and got a thorough beating for their trouble.
Playing with them, I suppose. The story reads as though none of the kids complained about being poked with a needle (the principal was only notified after the teacher's aide was stuck). That's just plain weird. Most first-graders will whine if someone looks at them funny.
What a bunch of pricks.
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