Community Chat

[151949]

and we need it to be also passed here.It seems it is policy for school's to take away kid's asthma inhalers and lock them in the nurses office so the kid has to go there to get it when they need it. A 12 year old in Canada named Ryan DIED because by the time the kids got him from recess to the nurses office and they got the inhaler out he had respiratory arrested. How inane is this law?!?! The schools - both here and in Canada claim they don't want the kids allowing other kids to use the inhalers, so they keep them away from the kids. Honestly! 

We should start a write in campaign to our senators & congressmen to get a law passed here to make taking a kids inhaler or epipen away from them a crime.

[embgm]

My husband and three sons all have asthma and allergies. Their triggers are many some the same and some different. When my oldest started high school the 9 th graders were schooled in their own building which was not the building the nurse was stationed. Before school began I had a meeting with the nurse and assistant principal to discuss the inhaler situation. They both agreed he would have the inhaler on him at all times. However certain rules applied. He was never to take it out of his pocket to use without notifying his teacher or the bus driver therefore an adult always knew. There would be consequences if any other student ever had it in their possession. My son was very aware his inhaler wasn't a toy and could be harmful for someone else to use. There never was an issue. It's a shame that young boy died before his inhaler was retrieved. I'm glad that law was passed and hope it brings some comfort to Ryan's family. 

[mom2four0418]

Our schools allow the inhaler to be kept with the student at all times.

[Abrowneyegirl]

Epi pens are the same way; locked in the nurses office and NOT allowed on a school bus.

(maybe if the child is older ?? I do not know)

My friends child is allergic to peanuts and bee stings.  She prays there is never a bee on the school bus.  The plan is the driver is to call 911.

Anaphylaxis happens VERY quickly in many people I can not imagine how a child survives the delay in someone noticing the reaction, alerting a teacher and then someone running to the nurses office to get the pen and returning with it.    !!!!!

I would home school my child before I exposed them to that type of risk.

[151949]

According to the article Ryan's allergies were severe and so his Mom -even though he had an inhaler at the nurse in school - would pack another one in his backpack but they would find it at school and take it away from him, calling her to come to the school and get it. 

I am an asthmatic and when I was A kid we did not have inhalers or epi pens - and a lot of children died from asthma attacks.

[dex]

My son attended school in Canada up to the eighth grade and he always had his inhaler in his backpack....we were never told it couldn't be on his person.When we moved to the USA we were told that the health nurse had to administer the inhalers and he couldn't carry it on his person.

i was really unhappy about that rule but thankfully he didn't have any emergencies at school.

[Tinkrbl44]

Wait a minute .....    So the child had to drop off the inhaler each morning upon arrival and pick it up at the end of the day each day?   What if the nurse was at lunch or on a bathroom break?    This is the dumbest thing and I'm surprised parents wouldn't object to something so inefficient! ...  not to mention dangerous for the child!

[Abrowneyegirl]

@Tinkrbl44  No you do not pick up and drop off daily you are expected to supply duplicates.  

At several hundeds of dollars an Epi-pen or some inhalers you can see the problem.

At my friend's child's school the program is -there is always a nurse there, the school is huge so there is more than 1 nurse and 1 must always be at her/his post.

I would NEVER trust this scenerio with my childs life.

[dex]

@Tinkrbl44 You are so right and I don't know why I let the school force me to comply with a policy that I felt endangered my son.I think I caved because we were immigrants and I felt lack of power to make changes to the rule book of our newly adopted country.

[embgm]

My boys each had inhalers that stayed in the nurses office all the time. They also had inhalers in their sports bags and at home. I also always had an inhaler in my purse. Two of my boys used their inhalers every 4 hours or their nebulizer machines each day during their peak allergy seasons or if they were ill. A cold is not a ten day problem to an asthmatic , it can be weeks and weeks if their asthma kicked in. We were always prepared, we tried to avoid trips to the ER, which there were quite a few. Asthma can be controlled successfully but not without some bumps in the road. The people who are in your children's lives, teachers ,family, coaches,friend's and their parents etc. Need to be educated about asthma so your children are protected when they are not with you.