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 State Sen. Vaneta Becker’s (R-Evansville) legislation to help protect children with severe allergies unanimously passed the Senate Committee on Health and Provider Services today.
Senate Bill 245Â would allow doctors and health-care providers to prescribe auto-injectable epinephrine, like EpiPens, to schools. Epinephrine is a form of adrenaline that reverses the effect of allergic reactions in as little as five seconds. The bill would also provide legal protections to school nurses and volunteer personnel who administer it in good faith to a suffering student.
“There is no higher priority than protecting young Hoosiers from danger, especially when they are away from their families and in the care of school officials,†Becker said. “Severe allergic reactions can be life-threatening, and schools must be equipped to immediately respond to these emergencies.â€
Nearly one in 13 children throughout the United States suffers from food allergies, and an estimated three percent suffer from stinging-insect allergies. One study found that 25 percent of children have their first reaction to peanut or tree nuts in the school setting. Becker said her initiative would safeguard these children.
SB 245 now moves to the Senate floor for further consideration.
One wonders how many incidents might take place each year in the EVSC where a student is actually harmed by an allergic reaction to the point of going into anaphylaxis.
I would have thought that any at-risk children would have already worked this out with their school and their doctor before starting classes. Is there really a genuine pressing need for this legislation?
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PAK, Is there a pressing need for OSHA to mandate that health offices start keeping “new” MSDs on all materials even though these offices have these MSDs already, and in addition must also keep their old MSDs? As if health care was not complicated enough now, lets put out more ridiculous rules.
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