Food allergies cause more than 300,000 hospital visits a year among children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Epinephrine, often delivered through EpiPen injectors, can prevent adverse reactions and death in children who have severe allergies.

At least 15 percent of kids with food allergies have had a life threatening reaction at school. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, a quarter of EpiPen injections in schools are given to kids whose allergy wasn’t known at the time of the reaction.

The federal School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act  was signed into law by President Obama on November 13, 2014. The President pressed states to adopt laws requiring schools to have epinephrine auto-injectors available.

Mr. Obama has first hand knowledge of the anxiety involved in parenting a child with allergies. His daughter, Malia,  has a peanut allergy.

In October 2014, legislation allowing schools to obtain lifesaving allergy medication to help students in emergency situations was passed in the Pennsylvania  House of Representatives. The Bill had already made its way through the Senate.

This legislation was designed to address the fact that kids with both known and unknown allergies spend a lot of their time at school, according to Dr. Todd Green, president of the Pennsylvania Allergy & Asthma Association.

Governor Corbett signed the bill into law on  October 31, 2014.

The law allow schools to obtain a prescription for an epinephrine auto injector, known as an “EpiPen.” The supply of EpiPens will be maintained in the school in a safe and secure setting. The bill also permits authorized personnel to administer the EpiPen to any student suffering from anaphylaxis.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. It can occur within seconds or minutes of exposure to something you’re allergic to, such as a peanut or the venom from a bee sting.”

Schools will pay for the EpiPens. The  Pennsylvania Department of Health is setting up a program to train teachers and other professionals on how to administer injectable epinephrine.

 

Photo by gregfriese