Legislation that would provide for stock epinephrine in places of public accommodation has cleared committees and is now under consideration by the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly.
Entitled the Epinephrine Access and Emergency Treatment Act, the bill (designated S-2884 and A-4094) would allow individuals who have completed an approved training course to maintain and administer epinephrine auto-injectors for emergency use, and employers of those individuals to obtain stock epinephrine for use by them. The legislation also provides the necessary “Good Samaritan” provisions to shield all involved from liability when epinephrine is administered in good faith during an anaphylactic emergency.
Anaphylaxis is a serious, sometimes life-threatening allergic reaction to a food, medication or insect sting. Epinephrine is the only approved treatment for anaphylaxis and should be administered as soon as anaphylaxis is suspected.
Though the legislation would provide for access to stock epinephrine auto-injectors in restaurants, theaters, amusement parks, camps, and other public places, it would not mandate that such places provide them.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation has made a website available for New Jersey residents to urge their legislators to pass the legislation. Please show your support by clicking here.
SnackSafely.com strongly supports legislation that provides for access to emergency epinephrine in all places of public accommodation and the requisite training for those to administer it. We envision a day when such training is as pervasive as CPR training and epinephrine is as widely available as AED defibrillators are today.
