July 2025

Summer Fun: Safe Field Trips

Summer is a great time to get out and explore the wonderful activities our communities have to offer children. Whether it is a walk to a nearby park, doing sidewalk chalk in the front driveway, or a field trip to the children's museum, certain precautions need to be taken to ensure the outing is safe and enjoyable.

A good first step is to make sure you take children to a safe location. Visit the site before the day of the trip. Check for any safety hazards, particularly on playgrounds or in parks. Things to look for include broken equipment, lack of proper surfacing under play structures, shattered glass, garbage, inadequate fencing, and poisonous plants. Know where the restrooms are and whether there are soap and paper towels or if you will need to bring your own. Make sure you follow food safety rules if you will be having a picnic. You can find more information on the Snohomish County Health Department Food Safety webpage.

Review your expectations with the children before you head out. Before leaving on any trip, you will want to make sure you don’t forget any essentials. Do you have:

a signed permission slip for each child
enough adults to ensure adequate supervision
a portable first aid kit (using a fanny pack is a good idea)
each child’s emergency information
extra drinking water
age-appropriate safety restraints for each person in the vehicle
a way to keep lunches or picnic foods cold

During any field trip, conduct frequent head counts and position adults so the entire site can be seen. Supervision is of utmost importance around water, be it a public swimming pool or a walk on the beach. Drowning deaths are quick and silent. There is a section of the child care licensing rules that addresses supervision around water. When outdoors on a hot day, the children need to be dressed appropriately and drink lots of water. Quiet activities in the shade should be incorporated into your plans. Use sunscreens, but only with parental permission and apply a half hour before going outdoors. On particularly bright days, wear hats and sunglasses. Parents may also wish to provide UV-protective clothing. Be aware that children on certain antibiotics may be highly prone to sunburn.

If you would like more information on field trip, picnic, playground, or water safety (or any other health and safety topic), call the Child Care Health Outreach Program at 425.252.5415 or email us at childcarehealth@co.snohomish.wa.us.

Updates on Respiratory diseases

Pertussis or Whooping Cough

Per a recent DOH newsroom update, Washington is seeing a 25-fold increase in pertussis (whooping cough) cases in 2024 compared to the previous year.

As of May 31st, 2025, there were a total of 1,314 cases of pertussis reported statewide, compared to 317 cases reported by week 22 in 2024. Infants under one year of age are among the most vulnerable to severe pertussis disease. Of the 90 infants in Washington who had pertussis so far in 2025: 80 were old enough to have received a dose of pertussis-containing vaccine, and 19 (21%) had received at least one dose. Weekly Pertussis Update for Washington State.

Measles

Have families that are travelling this summer? As of June 5, there were 1,168 confirmed measles cases reported in 34 jurisdictions across the U.S. There have been a total of ten confirmed cases in Washington in 3 counties (King, Snohomish, and Whatcom). There have been zero outbreaks in Washington this year. Visit the CDC measles data page for ongoing updates, share these new fact sheets (Rash Fact Sheet, Preventing Measles Before and After Travel Fact Sheet) with families, and encourage them to visit their medical provider before travelling with small children.

Flu

While seasonal flu activity is low across Washington State and nationwide. The 2024-2025 season saw the highest number of pediatric deaths reported in any non-pandemic influenza season since the condition became reportable in 2004. Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 22, ending May 31, 2025 | FluView | CDC

Remain up to date on Influenza-like activity within Snohomish County by visiting our respiratory illness dashboard or in Washington by visiting Washington State Influenza Update.

For current guidance on what to do when a child has respiratory-virus symptoms or COVID-19, please refer to Washington State Department of Health's webpage with current best practices. You can also contact the Snohomish County Health Department's Child Care Health Outreach program by phone at 425-252-5415 or email childcarehealth@co.snohomish.wa.us with questions.

How can you be best prepared to face respiratory virus season this year?

Simplify your Immunization Tracking - Action required by August 15^th

The best protection against many communicable diseases is to stay up to date on all vaccinations. As childcare agencies, it is your job to ensure that vaccination records are kept up to date and easily accessible in times of potential outbreaks. We’d like to remind you of a new tool to assist you in this work:

The Washington Immunization Information System (WA IIS) School and Child Care Immunization Module allows child care and early learning programs to:

access a roster showing each child's immunization status
run an “at risk report” to see which children are not up-to-date on their immunizations (without having to go through paper records), which could come in handy if there is a disease outbreak in your program
print parent letters for children missing immunizations

Providers who are using this system do not need to fill out the annual immunization report for DOH, which is another benefit and time saver.

If you’ve been putting off signing up for access, now is the time! DOH will only be accepting new Information Sharing Agreements (ISAs) through August 15, 2025. Due to a decrease in staffing, from August 16 through the end of December they will be pausing onboarding new child cares.

During the pause, the School and Child Care Module team will focus on supporting existing users with the start of the new school year and annual immunization reporting to DOH. They anticipate reopening onboarding of new users in January 2026. Any ISAs submitted after August 15 will be processed in the order they are received starting in January.

You can find the ISAs on www.doh.wa.gov/SchoolModule. Please also see Public Health Seattle-King County’s Child Care Health Program’s step-by-step guide to help you with get access to the Module.

Early Learning Grant Funding

Learn more about the Early Learning Facilities (ELF) program through the Washington State Department of Commerce by visiting their website at Early Learning Facilities Program – Washington State Department of Commerce or click on the image below to download the one page flier.

Department of Commerce Early Learning Grant Flyer Image

We appreciate your patience as we continue to update our courses to enhance your learning experience. Classes are being offered AT NO COST at this time.

For questions about our online classes, contact our team at ChildCareHealth@co.snohomish.wa.us or via phone at 425.252.5415.

This Month's Featured Classes

Drawing of a house with a septic system in the yard

Septic Care Class for Home Child Cares in Snohomish County

This course is specifically designed for Snohomish County child cares with a septic system. Please make sure this course is appropriate for your situation before registering.

Child cares with septic systems are responsible for protecting the health and safety of children in their care from potential risks. Learning how to best care for your system will help create a safe child care environment. This self-paced course will cover topics including how your system works, how to find your septic system records, best practices for care and maintenance, signs of a failing septic system, how to find septic contractors and what to expect, and financial assistance options for septic systems.

Register Here

Injury Prevention: Toy Safety

In addition to providing children with fun and enjoyment, toys help them develop skills, test their abilities, engage their imagination, and learn. Unfortunately, many children are injured every day from toys that are supposed to be fun. This course will focus on preventing injuries from toys in child care settings.