The health of schoolchildren is not so hot, says the explanatory note of the bill
Photo: Oleg ZOLOTO
There are several amendments, and they all relate to the protection of children’s health and the organization of medical care in educational institutions.
First aid for children at school is now entitled to be provided by “teaching staff and other persons with suitable training or skills”. They will be allowed to engage in physical culture and sports on the basis of a certificate issued by a medical organization “based on the results of preventive medical examinations of students.” And parents will be obliged to inform the school about the state of health of the child, if special conditions are required for his upbringing.
The health of schoolchildren is not so good, according to the explanatory note to the bill, there are more and more cases during physical education, when the child suddenly fell ill and needed urgent medical attention. And unfortunately, tragedy happens.
Will the new measures help? Will the students be saved?
“For many years we have been talking about the fact that children die suddenly in physical education classes, sports classes in clubs and sections, because they come absolutely unexamined, so measures have to be taken for a long time,” the well-known pediatrician Yevgeny Timakov told KP. – And the last three years of the pandemic have changed the health of children, the covid hit mainly the cardiovascular system.
According to the doctor, among schoolchildren, it is necessary to deepen the mandatory medical examination and return the annual examinations of the cardiovascular system. ECG lying down, standing and with a load, consult with a cardiologist, if there are deviations, and only after that give access to sports activities. In addition to monitoring blood tests, monitor the state of the spleen, kidneys, and in girls, the pelvic organs as well. That is, control everything that may be influenced by physical education and sport. And physical education teachers should not only have first aid skills, but also understand the age characteristics of children, be able to correctly give the load. For example, long cross-country runs are unacceptable for many children, even due to the impact of covid.
– Now in pedagogical universities they teach such skills?
– As far as I know, they give general knowledge, but they do not carry out certificates. But there is another side: according to our laws, to provide first aid to a person who does not have special abilities is to call an ambulance and stay near the victim until the doctors arrive. If you provided assistance illiterately, you may fall under a criminal article. With artificial respiration, the ribs break, which often happens. Incorrectly placed, he incorrectly determined the cause and began to “pump” the heart, while the child’s sugar really dropped. This will be considered as causing serious bodily harm. Therefore, we must change other laws about the provision of health care. And the simplest solution to the problem is for each school to have an equipped medical room and a qualified health worker on a permanent basis. Then you do not have to “hang” additional responsibilities on teachers.
