Brewster Academy -> Athletics -> Facilities -> Health Center

The Brewster Academy Health Center is run by the Health Services director and a staff of licensed nurses. The on-campus facility includes an exam room, a treatment room, four beds, and the school counselor's office. When school is in session, there is 24-hour on-call nursing coverage. Brewster Academy nurses work with the pediatricians and pediatric nurse practitioner at Wolfeboro Pediatrics who visit campus three times a week.

Health Center Hours:

Monday - Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
and 3:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Saturday: 9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. (A Weeks) and 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. (B Weeks)
Sunday: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 5 - 8:30 p.m.

Medication Room Hours:

Monday - Friday: 7:30 - 9 a.m.
Saturday A Week: 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.

H1N1 Influenza Preparedness Planning and Community Precautions

Updated: December 7, 2009

Brewster’s planning and response to the spread of H1N1 influenza will continue to be guided by recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NHDHHS) as well as with consultation from the Academy’s physicians.

The following information is provided here to guide the Brewster community during the 2009-2010 school year as the H1N1 Influenza situation evolves. As information and updates on the H1N1 virus become available, we will update this page as necessary.

Brewster has received a limited number of H1N1 vaccines. The Health Center has begun immunizing students who fall into a high risk category.

It was announced December 4 that Phase 3 of New Hampshire's Vaccine Distribution Plan, which includes all 5-24 year olds (with or without medical conditions), will be implemented the week of December 7. Brewster students in this group, who have submitted a permission form to receive the H1N1 vaccination, will begin being vaccinated this week. This vaccine is a single dose injection.

If you would like your student to receive the H1N1 vaccine and have not already submitted an H1N1 Vaccine Permission Form, please do so immediately with this online form.

If your child has not received the H1N1 by December break, we strongly encourage you to have him or her immunized over the vacation.

Note: Many parents have already signed and returned a vaccination permission form for the Seasonal Flu Vaccine, which was administered to students on October 27. This is the form that was mailed to families in June. The H1N1 vaccination permission form was not available until Family Weekend; if you completed a vaccination permission form prior to that it was for the Seasonal Flu Vaccine.

Daily Prevention Strategies

Note: As recommended by the CDC and the NHDHHS, we will isolate students with a fever and/or send them home. It is important to note, however, that this does not mean that these students have H1N1.

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs spread this way.
Students should not share water bottles, drinks, utensils, etc. with others
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
If you are sick with flu-like illness (including a fever of 100.4 degrees F or higher, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and extreme tiredness), the CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible. This is to keep from making others sick.
While sick, limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Illness Guidelines
Boarding Students
If students exhibit influenza-like symptoms, including fever of 100.4 degrees F or higher, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and extreme tiredness, they should report to the Health Center immediately. If a student’s home is within a day’s drive from campus, parents will be asked to pick up students and keep them home until they have been 24 hours without a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medications) and regardless of whether or not they are using antiviral drugs. For students who live too far to go home, they will be housed in either the health center or their dorm (with steps taken to isolate the student as much as possible within the dorm setting).

Day Students
If students exhibit influenza-like symptoms, including fever of 100.4 degrees F or higher, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and extreme tiredness, they should stay home. Students should not return to campus until they have been 24 hours without a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medications) and regardless of whether or not they are using antiviral drugs. If students develop these symptoms while on campus, they will be sent home.

Faculty and Staff
Both residential and non-residential faculty and staff should follow these same guidelines.

Seasonal Influenza Vaccination

According to the CDC, the best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccination each year. The seasonal flu vaccine protects against the three seasonal viruses that research suggests will be most common. On October 27, the majority of students received the seasonal flu vaccination at an on-campus clinic. All students are required* to have a seasonal flu vaccination. If parents have not submitted their student’s Flu Vaccine Permission Form, please do so immediately. Parents may also arrange to have the vaccine given by their family physician and must provide documentation that it was given.

*In the event of an on-campus outbreak of the seasonal flu, students who have not been vaccinated against the seasonal flu, will be required to leave campus.

School Closing
As the H1N1 health issue evolves throughout the year, the Academy will take the above precautionary measures, continue to monitor the situation closely here and abroad, and act in accordance with regional, state, and national guidelines.

Although the CDC does not recommend closing schools impacted by the H1N1 virus, should the virus cause severe and widespread illness within the Brewster community, forcing the school to suspend classes or close, parents will be notified immediately. All decisions about school closing will be made upon the recommendation, advice, and counsel of the CDC and state and local agencies.

Efforts will be made to ensure that students do not fall behind in their work. Faculty will contact students via e-mail regarding assignments and students may be directed to the Brewster Portal to pick up or turn in work. Parents and students can communicate with the teachers via e-mail or phone.

Informative Websites
The following websites are informative resources regarding the H1N1 virus and the seasonal flu.

U.S. Government H1N1, avian, and pandemic flu information:
http://www.flu.gov

New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/DHHS/DHHS_SITE/swineflu.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html

Cynthia Patterson, RN BN
Director of Student Health Services
Brewster Academy
Cindy_patterson@brewsteracademy.org
603-569-7121