Braintree Nurses Train for School Disasters

Six Braintree Public Schools nurses recently completed training to respond to natural and man-made disasters in their schools.

Cheryl Campbell, Kristen Travers, Jane Bagley, Francis Barron, Paula Dowd and Virginia Palmieri were among 80 nurses who attended a national training for Norfolk County’s public school nurses sponsored by Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey.

Morrissey used funds forfeited in successful drug prosecutions to pay for the National Association of School Nurses’ Chris Tuck, a Kansas-based trainer and member of her state’s Committee on Safe and Prepared Schools, to come to Massachusetts and conduct the seminar, according to a press release.

“We are thinking through every aspect of student safety and trying to provide Norfolk County schools with as many tools and as much training as we can to improve security,” Morrissey said.

“Nurses form a natural part of the response to any school incident with injuries. We looked nationally, and this training program appeared to be among the best and most comprehensive available.”

Morrissey said the training was a natural next step after providing I.M.P.A.C.T. assessments, from the MetroLEC regional law enforcement coalition, for one school in each Norfolk County community this spring. 

The Incident Management Protocols and Critical Tasks – I.M.P.A.C.T. – program is designed to help schools and police decrease or prevent injuries if a violent school event occurs. Bank of Canton President Stephen Costello donated the use of the seminar room at his corporate headquarters, as he has repeatedly done for law enforcement trainings.

“The nurses’ training, the I.M.P.A.C.T. evaluations, our school safety grant program – none of it would be possible without the partnership of local school, police and community leaders,” Morrissey said. “I want to thank the many nurses who attended and the administrations who are working with us to make our schools as safe as we can.”