Students should not share items which could transmit disease. Students should learn how to dispose of their own hazardous waste. Throwing their own used facial tissues into the trash, rather than leaving them for someone else to pick up, is a start. Doing the same with used band aids is even more important. Taking care of one's own eating utensils in the lunch room and picking up one's dirty towels in the locker room also contribute to a contagion-free lifestyle.
Students can learn to attend to their own first aid needs.
For minor cuts students can use an article of clothing or gauze pad and stop their own bleeding. Even younger children can, with supervision, wash and apply dressings and bandages to their playground scrapes. A common problem in school-aged children is nosebleeds, and students can be taught to help a peer with a nosebleed by tipping the head forward, pinching the nose, and holding tissues under the nostrils. Students should also know that individuals who administer first aid need to wear gloves and handle medical supplies carefully. Students should learn how to dispose of sharps and use sharps containers.