The Vanderburgh County Health Department is hosting a Back-to-School Lead Testing Clinic for children under 7 years of age that have not met the state mandated lead testing requirement. This requirement will be checked when the appointment is requested. The clinic will be held the entire month of August from 8:30am to 3:30pm Monday-Friday at the Vanderburgh County Health Department.
Pre-registration is preferred, visit vanderburghhealth.org to register. All children that are tested at the Health Department in the month of August will be given a backpack with some school supplies inside.
Walk-ins may be seen as time and staffing allows.
Indiana Department of Health Guidance and Standards for Health Care Providers states:
- Children should receive a blood lead test between the ages of nine (9) and fifteen (15) months, or as close as reasonably possible to the patient’s appointment.
- Children should have another blood lead test between the ages of twenty-one (21) and twenty-seven (27) months, or as close as reasonably possible to the patient’s appointment.
- Any child between twenty-eight (28) and seventy-two (72) months that does not have a record of any prior blood lead test must have a blood lead test performed as soon as possible.
Lead testing is the best way to protect your child from the many serious permanent effects that lead poisoning causes. Exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health and cause adverse effects such as damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems- underperformance in school, lower IQ and decreased ability to pay attention as well as hearing and speech problems. The adverse effects of lead poisoning are irreversible Contact your child’s healthcare provider or attend this event to find out if your child is up to date.
For questions, you can contact the Vanderburgh County Health Department at 812-435-5662.
