School nurses are the health care expert in the school setting who can provide helpful parent tips to keep students healthy and ready to learn.
How To Safely Remove A Tick
By Patricia Keitel, R.N., M.S.N., N.C.S.N. School Nurse at Fairview Elementary in the Capital School District, Dover, Delaware
Ticks are insects that are a part of the same family that include mites, spiders and scorpions, and they include hundreds of species worldwide. They attach themselves to the skin of animals and feed on blood. Humans usually encounter dog and deer ticks. Deer ticks are incredibly small, and can carry Lyme disease, and dog ticks can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever. It is possible to be bitten by a tick and never feel a thing.
Always check yourself after spending time outdoors; especially the head and scalp, back, neck, armpits and groin areas.
When yo
u find a tick embedded in your skin, the quicker you remove it, the less likely you are to catch any disease from it. Using a pair of fine tipped tweezers, grab the tick as close to the head and where the body meets your skin as possible. Any body parts left in the skin should be removed with a sterile needle or pin. Important points to remember when pulling the tick off of your skin are:
• Do NOT twist or” unscrew” the tick, as you may end of leaving the head under your skin; simply pull the tick straight out.
• Do NOT try to smother with Vaseline, clear nail polish or burn the tick. The goal is to REMOVE the tick as soon as possible.
• Do place the tick in a zip lock bag and place in the freezer if identification is necessary later.
Unless the bite area appears red, swollen and otherwise infected, there is no need for the bite to be treated by the doctor. If symptoms indicate a possible case of Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever, the individual will be treated with antibiotics.
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