An excellent opinion piece by Curtis Sittenfeld entitled “Epipens for All” was published in today’s New York Times Sunday Review. The piece makes the case for support of the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act which has been passed by the House and awaits passage by the Senate.
The opinion piece makes the case by taking us through the events leading up to the death of Ammaria Johnson, the first grader from Richmond, Virginia who lost her life to anaphylaxis at school in January 2012.
We urge all our readers to read Sittenfeld’s opinion piece and share it with friends, family and your child’s school administration.
Hello,
I strongly agree that all schools and even sports venues, such as major league games of all types should have epi pens available and a trained person such as a first aid responder, nurse, trainer, MD to administer Epi if needed. I think they should be in every first aid kit. They are critical to people who have known and unknown allergies.
Any food injested or bee sting etc, can be potentially fatal if Epi Pens are not administered in time. There is no reason we cannot educate people to use epi in cases such as these, when the outcome is death if no treated is given in a timely manner. I am an allergy nurse and have given numerous Epi pens to people having allergic reactions, and in most case they have saved their life.
Thank you
Patricia Keigney-Rodriguez RN
Harvard University Allergy
I totally agree. I am a school nurse in California and would highly support legislation for the Emergency Epinephrine Act. I have over 20 students who currently have Epi-pens stored at school. We are seeing a significant increase in bee and food related allergies.