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Your Child's Serious Health Issues & Their School: Just Where Should Medicines be Stored?
Imagine you are having trouble breathing -- you've had attacks before, and remember the one thing that would allow you to breathe easier...you reach for your inhaler, but it's not close by -- you're in class and your inhaler is on the other side of school in the nurse's office. You feel lightheaded and struggle for air...then everything goes dark. Now imagine that this is your child.
The first time I heard about Teresa's* asthma condition, it was after a day at my child's elementary school. She told me that a girl in her class had a bad asthma attack and the ambulance had to come to the school and take her to the hospital. When I asked about Teresa the next day, my child told me that the girl was back in school and was ok. This situation got me thinking...what if my child had a known serious illness such as asthma, and was in distress at school? My child doesn't have asthma, but she does have allergies and is a high-risk candidate for serious allergic reactions. It's unfortunate that she cannot be prescribed an Epi-pen until she actually tests positive for that certain allergen, or until she atually has a serious allergic reaction. But if she did need to have an Epi-pen, I would make sure that she knows how to use it and I would expect that she be able to either carry it with her at all times, or keep it close during the day. If she wasn't allowed to carry it, I would at least expect the medication to be kept in the classroom, or carried by the teacher, who would be educated on the medication's use. Getting back to Teresa, she had at least 3 more serious asthma attacks during school hours in less than 2 weeks. This last time was so serious that she became unconcious, hit the concrete, and did not wake up until after the ambulance left fromthe school. Luckily, as before, she recovered and was back at school the very next day. But again I questioned...why didn't she have her inhaler near her so she coiuld take it when she first felt an attack coming on?
Speaking specifically about inhalers and Epi-pens, I did not know that there are schools that do not allow children to bring their own inhaler or Epi-pen to school with them. Many states and school districts still regulate how schools handle medication use among students. All too often, when precious moments count, medication is just too far away...many times in the school nurses office.
An Internet search of this topic found many schools with similar guidelines: "All students in elementary school must store and use their inhaler or Epi-pen in the nurse's office." I can only imagine a child's desperation in trying to reach the nurse's office while having trouble breathing and possibly passing out. There must be something we can do to make sure children have their medication during school hours, at the exact moment they need it...?"
In 199, a mother in California won millions in a lawsuit against the Hanford Elementary School District, because her fifth grade son died from an asthma attack he had in the school office. School employees took too long trying to put together his nebulizer. The mother sued the district, saying that school officials never told her that her son could have carried his inhaler with him if she had only gotten a doctor's note saying it was necessary. THankfully, some school districts are realizing the need for change.
In OCtober, 204, a bill was signed in the Senate, S.2815: the Asthmatic Schoolchildren's Treatment and Health Management Act of 2004, that will give a preference regarding states that require schools to allow students to self-administer medication to treat that student's asthma or anaphylaxis, and for other purposes. Some of the details of this bill include:
- At least 30 states have legislation protecting the rights of chidlren to carry and self-administer asthma metered-dose inhalers, and at least 18 states expand this protection to epinephrine auto-injectors.
- Tragic refusals of schools to permit students to carry their inhalers and auto-injectable epinephrine have occurred, some resulting in death and spawning litigation.
- School district medication policies must be developed with the safety of all students in mind. The immediate and correct use of asthma inhalers and auto-injectable epinephrine are necessary to avoid serious respiratory complications and improve health care outcomes.
- No school should interfere with the patient-physician relationship.
- Anaphylaxis, or anaphylactic shock, is a systemic allergic reaction that can kill within minutes. Anaphyaxis occurs in some asthma patients. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, people who have experienced symptoms of anaphylaxis previously are at risk for subsequent reactions and should carry an epinephrine auto-injector with them at all times, if prescribed.
- An increasing number of students and school staff have life-threatening allergies. Exposure to the affecting allergen can trigger anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis requires prompt medical intervention with an injection of epinephrine.
Currently, there are thirty-one states that have laws that protect the rights of children to carry asthma inhalers with them at school. Nineteen of those states also protect students' rights to carry Epi-pens, which are used to treat severe, life-threatening allergies such as anaphylaxis from bee stings and food allergies. In October 2004, California passed a "right-to-carry" law, and Pennsylvania is following close behind.
This topic is sure to get many parents thinking about their own child's health issues at school. If your child is familiar with the use of an inhaler or Epi-pen, should they not be allowed to have it close by in case of emergency? If your child is highly allergic to bee stings and their class has recess outdoors, whose responsibility is it to make sure your child has medication nearby to combat any serious allergic reaction? If your child has asthma and is known to experience multiple attacks each week, should your child be deprived of having their life-saving medication waiting nearby for them in the precious moments after they begin to feel ill? As a parent, I cannot understand how a school would not allow my child's inhaler to at least be kept in the classroom, under a teacher's supervision. In the case of an asthma attack or serious allergic reaction, I would want my child to receive the immediate help she needs.
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Copyright © My ParenTime's Family Community. *Name changed to protect privacy.
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