Mandated reporting of epinephrine administration in Massachusetts schools demonstrates that close to 25% of all administrations are for reactions in individuals not known to the school to have an allergy. Having epinephrine available and competent personnel that can recognize and treat first time allergic emergencies is imperative. More and more states are passing “stock auto-injector laws” and these vary from state to state. Implementing these will be challenging especially when approaching the issue of non-licensed staff.
SOLUTION: CREATE COMMUNITIES OF SUPPORT
In addition to advocating for epinephrine stocking laws we also need to advocate for full-time school nurses in all schools. No one in the school is better positioned or trained to make the assessment of anaphylaxis and treat appropriately. While it is CRITICAL TO HAVE STOCK EPINEPHRINE AND STAFF TRAINED TO ADMINISTER IT (especially when a school nurse is not immediately available), we must to recognize that our goal is to have stock epinephrine AND full-time school nurses. This is the gold standard.
RESOURCES:
Life-Threatening Allergies, School Nurses, and You: The Massachusetts Journey
Making The Case For Full-time School Nurses: We Need Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Champions
