RSS Channels IndexWithin Reach: Lifesaving Medication for All Students with Allergies
Four states still need anaphylaxis-medication laws
Newswise — Students with life-threatening food or insect allergies face down dangers every day at school, from food allergens in the cafeteria or classroom to bees on the playground. That’s why physicians recommend students and others with severe allergies carry auto-injectable epinephrine with them at all times and know how to use it. Used at the first sign of anaphylaxis – a life-threatening allergic reaction that may start with a tingly mouth or rash but end with deadly consequences – this medication saves lives.
Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) led the grassroots movement to get state laws passed to protect students’ rights to carry their anaphylaxis medication with them (with permission from their physician). It’s lifesaving legislation – but it’s missing in four states: New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. To find out more and read your state’s laws, visit AANMA’s website, www.aanma.org/advocacy/meds-at-school.
Advice for parents
“In nearly all fatal anaphylaxis cases, epinephrine treatment had been delayed. Discuss your children’s food or insect allergies with school officials,” advises Carol Jones, RN, AE-C, asthma educator and director of AANMA’s Patient Support Center. “Provide the school with written instructions for response to any allergic reaction and phone numbers to use in case of emergency.”
Other safety tips:
· Check expiration dates on auto-injectable epinephrine devices and renew if necessary. Replace any that look cloudy or discolored.
· When filling a prescription at the pharmacy, check that you receive the exact medication prescribed and that you know how to use it.
· Make sure students carry two auto-injectable epinephrine devices with them at all times, in case another dose is needed before emergency medical help arrives.
· Teach children the early warning signs of anaphylaxis: hives, swelling in the mouth or tongue, vomiting, difficulty breathing.
AANMA is working with legislators and volunteers in New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin to get anaphylaxis laws passed in these states. Contact Sandra Fusco-Walker, AANMA's Director of Advocacy, at sfwalker@aanma.org to get involved today!
About AANMA
Founded in 1985, Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics is the leading national nonprofit family organization dedicated to eliminating death and suffering due to asthma, allergies and related conditions. AANMA’s core areas of expertise are education, advocacy and outreach. The organization’s www.aanma.org website and award-winning publications, Allergy & Asthma Today magazine and The MA Report online newsletter, are consumer lifelines to medical news and healthy living.
For more information, call 800.878.4403 or visit www.aanma.org. You can also follow AANMA on Twitter and Facebook and on the Take A Weekly Breather blog. Take the Great American Asthma Challenge today: www.GreatAmericanAsthmaChallenge.org.
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