ESPC Student Safety & Welfare 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student tells an education support professional that they are being bullied on the school bus but asks them to keep it a secret. What is the most appropriate response?
- Keep the information confidential as the student requested
- Report the bullying to the appropriate school staff immediately (Correct answer)
- Speak directly to the alleged bully without involving administration
- Tell the student to handle the situation on their own
Correct answer: Report the bullying to the appropriate school staff immediately
Student safety concerns like bullying must be reported to appropriate staff regardless of a student's request for confidentiality.
Question 2: Which of the following is the MOST important action when a student has a seizure in the classroom?
- Restrain the student to prevent injury from movement
- Clear the area of hard objects and time the seizure duration (Correct answer)
- Insert something into the student's mouth to prevent biting
- Immediately move the student to a more comfortable position
Correct answer: Clear the area of hard objects and time the seizure duration
During a seizure, you should clear the surrounding area and time the seizure; never restrain the student or put anything in their mouth.
Question 3: An education support professional notices a student has unexplained bruising on their arms and flinches when adults approach. What should the ESP do FIRST?
- Confront the student's parents directly about the bruising
- Document observations and report concerns to the designated school official (Correct answer)
- Question the student extensively about how the bruises occurred
- Wait to see if more signs appear before taking action
Correct answer: Document observations and report concerns to the designated school official
ESPs are mandated reporters and must document and report suspected abuse to the designated school official without conducting their own investigation.
Question 4: A student with a known peanut allergy is at lunch when another student accidentally shares food containing peanuts. The allergic student begins showing signs of anaphylaxis. What is the FIRST action the ESP should take?
- Call the student's parents to inform them
- Administer the student's prescribed epinephrine auto-injector if available and call 911 (Correct answer)
- Give the student water and wait to see if symptoms worsen
- Escort the student to the nurse's office immediately
Correct answer: Administer the student's prescribed epinephrine auto-injector if available and call 911
Anaphylaxis is life-threatening; the ESP should use the prescribed epinephrine auto-injector and call 911 immediately.
Question 5: During a lockdown drill, a student with autism becomes extremely distressed and begins screaming. The ESP should FIRST:
- Restrain the student to maintain quiet during the drill
- Calmly use de-escalation techniques and sensory supports to help the student (Correct answer)
- Remove the student from the room to avoid disturbing others
- Tell the student to stop making noise for safety reasons
Correct answer: Calmly use de-escalation techniques and sensory supports to help the student
ESPs should use calm de-escalation and sensory supports to help students with autism manage distress during drills.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes a school's universal precautions policy regarding bloodborne pathogens?
- Only apply precautions when a student is known to have a bloodborne illness
- Treat all blood and bodily fluids as potentially infectious regardless of the source (Correct answer)
- Use gloves only when handling large amounts of blood
- Precautions are only required for school nurses, not ESPs
Correct answer: Treat all blood and bodily fluids as potentially infectious regardless of the source
Universal precautions require treating all blood and bodily fluids as potentially infectious to prevent disease transmission.
Question 7: A student discloses to an ESP that they have thoughts of harming themselves. After reporting to the counselor, the counselor is unavailable. What should the ESP do?
- Stay with the student and immediately notify another designated school administrator (Correct answer)
- Return to classroom duties since the counselor has been notified
- Ask the student to write down their feelings and wait in the office alone
- Contact the student's parents and leave the student unsupervised
Correct answer: Stay with the student and immediately notify another designated school administrator
A student expressing suicidal ideation must never be left alone; the ESP should stay with the student and escalate to another available administrator.
ESPC Student Safety & Welfare 2
A student tells an education support professional that they are being bullied on the school bus but asks them to keep it a secret.
What is the most appropriate response?