Using 911 reports and other databases to evaluate school health services

Background/Significance: School-age children spend many of their waking hours in the school setting. Yet, little has been done to track the health/safety outcomes of children while they are in educational settings. As budgets continue to tighten it is important to use data to evaluate existing programs and determine what components of a school health system impact school health outcomes. Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to discuss a few possible data sets (national and local) that could be used to track school health outcomes. It will highlight two studies: one that utilized calls to 911 to determine the effectiveness of the school health system; another that used Annie E Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT data. Methodology: A literature review was conducted to determine what databases exist that tracks school health data. In addition, a secondary data analysis of 911 incident reports in Utah were reviewed to determine factors that impact the instigation of calling 911. Utah's data was compared with other states' 911 call data. KIDS COUNT data was used to compare school nurse staffing ratios. Findings/Results: The review of 911 incident reports and KIDS COUNT data provided insightful information regarding the impact of trained school health personnel and safety policies on school health outcomes. School nurses impact well child index ratings. Conclusions/Recommendations: Many existing databases exist that could potentially be used to measure school health outcomes. These include 911 calls, early dismissal/absenteeism, immunization rates, teen pregnancy rates, obesity rates, etc.