COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two state lawmakers have introduced a bill that will make it much easier for schools to stock general-use supplies of epinephrine shots used to counter potentially fatal allergic reactions.
Representatives Mike Duffey (R-Worthington) and Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) have introduced the measure, which will not force schools to stock epinephrine injectors but would make it easier by removing barriers such as cost.
“If a child without a standing order for the life-saving drug has an allergic reaction, a school nurse would not legally be able to do anything but call 911 even though she or he may have a cabinet full of epinephrine. That is the problem this bill fixes,” Johnson said.
Currently, parents who know their child has allergies can send epinephrine with their child to school. But it is illegal for school nurses to dispense that dose to anyone else who might have an allergic reaction at school.
“Some 30 states already have laws like this, and we know children’s lives have been saved by having undesignated epinephrine in schools,” said Kate King, president of the Ohio Association of School Nurses, which says it is favor of the bill.
The bill also allows use of a program available through a manufacturer to provide up to four epinephrine auto injectors at no cost to each school that applies for the doses through December 2014.
Children with allergies to certain foods such as peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and dairy products, or insect stings, could suffer an anaphylactic reaction, which causes the throat to swell, making breathing difficult, and it is often fatal. Epinephrine is the quick-response treatment to such a reaction.
House Bill 296 would allow a school or district to stock doses of epinephrine and allow properly trained personnel, in addition to school nurses, to administer the drug to a student, staff or visitor who exhibits signs of severe allergic reaction, or anaphylaxis.