<p>My dd is recovering from an asthma attack. This led me to wonder how many schools have clinics where the kids can sleep away from their dormitories? I know the bigger schools have a health clinic but do the smaller schools? I am sure her coughing would have been disruptive to her classmates. Unfortunately, she has had it before and will probably have it again.</p>
<p>My DD goes to a school with less than 400 students and they have a health center and kids who are sick can sleep there. I think it’s pretty standard.</p>
<p>My son went to a school with 180 students, and they had a health center with beds and a doctor who lived on campus.</p>
<p>All the schools we visited had an infirmary (health center, nurses–various terms for the same function.) The health center should be staffed 24/7 at a boarding school. </p>
<p>The health centers are usually large enough to meet a school’s usual demand. Students who are ill or infectious may be required to sleep in the health center, where the nurses can monitor them. It helps to control infectious diseases, as well. </p>
<p>Every once in a while, there’s an outbreak of flu or a stomach bug which makes many students ill all at once. In that case, the school may send ill local boarders home, and/or turn a dormitory into a temporary infirmary. I seem to remember reading on this site of such measures being taken during the swine flu epidemic.</p>
<p>If you daughter has asthma, you should investigate how the school deals with asthmatic students. If she’s allergic to something in her original dorm room, can she switch rooms? Some schools have dorm rooms which are “allergy” dorm rooms, i.e., set up to minimize allergies. You should also take the distance from the school to the nearest hospital into account.</p>
<p>Many schools have a section on their website devoted to their health center. By looking at the forms on the website, you can get an idea how the school handles allergies, asthma, sudden illness, medications, doctors’ visits, etc. At revisit days, I would certainly make the time to visit the health centers, to discuss with the nurses or doctor how the schools handle asthmatic students. After admission, you can also ask the admissions office to put you in contact with the parent of a currently enrolled asthmatic student.</p>
<p>Thank you all. It has been an exhausting week as asthma led to bronchitis.</p>