Schools would have to stock the injections, which can cost about $325 for two. Vote in the news poll.
Studies show that between 16 percent and 18 percent of children with food allergies have had allergic reactions in school after accidentally ingesting the allergen.
That's why state Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Northampton, said he has introduced a bill that would require schools to stock Epinephrine Auto-Injectors, commonly known as EpiPens, and to allow authorized staff members to administer then.
"So in an emergency they would be able to quickly save a child," Freeman said. "Those kinds of reactions can be so life-threatening if you don't act quickly."
EpiPens are used to inject Epinephrine, an allergy treatment, into a victim showing signs of a life threatening allergic reaction, or anaphylactic shock. Symptoms include hives, tightness of the throat and decreased blood pressure.
The Bethlehem Area School District voluntarily stocks all of its 22 buildings with EpiPens. But it can get expensive since each EpiPen set for adults costs about $325 and must be tossed once they expire, said Kathy Halkins, Liberty High School's nurse and chair of the district's health services department.
Bethlehem's two
high schools have used many EpiPens this year, compared to only one last year, she said. Few, if any, have been used in the elementary schools, she said.
"There are many students who don't carry their EpiPen like they're supposed to or they don't know they have an allergy or it is expired," Halkins said. "It is a life-saving device."
The New Jersey Department of Education doesn't require schools to have EpiPens on hand but provides schools guidance on state regulations for life-threatening food allergies, spokesman said Richard Vespucci said.
The proposed legislation builds on a 2010 law that allows students to carry an EpiPen in school with parent and doctor approval.
Halkins has not yet read Freeman's proposal but said she
thinks it could be good as long as districts enact policies
to accompany it. Anyone can be taught to use an EpiPen, but Halkins thinks school
nurses should be involved in training.
Ideally, the shots would be administered by a school nurse, Freeman said. He acknowledged some schools don't have a full-time nurse. Halkins thinks schools would be best served by more nurses.
Halkins, who has a serious allergy herself, thinks it is well
worth the cost of at least $600 per building to stock Bethlehem Area with
EpiPens and its half-dose counterparts, the EpiPen Jr.
An anaphylactic reaction is scary and life threatening, Halkins said.
"When you need one you hope you have it," she said.
While more and more schools have EpiPens, Halkins thinks the cost turns many districts off.
Freeman fears without a mandate, a district might not stock them until it is too late.
"I think it's important they be required to do so given the fact we have seen a dramatic rise to the allergies children have to various foods," Freeman said.
Freeman said it is a small cost to save the life of a child.
"Reaction time is critical when it comes to anaphylactic shock," Freeman said. "The time it takes to get an ambulance there could put a child's life in danger. If you have it on premise and have trained personnel, you can instantly respond to that situation."
Even with the use of an EpiPen, a child who suffers a life-threatening allergic reaction would still be sent to the hospital, Halkins noted.