That's good news for worried parents who have been sending their kids off to school not knowing if they'll be able to get quick enough treatment should an allergy attack or asthma attack occur. Even if your child's asthma has been under good control, it's always possible to have a severe asthma attack unexpectedly. Your child's continued health can be absolutely dependent on immediate access to an inhaler.
So, the right to carry means that as soon as your child's symptoms start, needed medicine – which the child carries in his / her backpack (or other "close by" place) – can be used to stop asthma attacks and allergy reactions in their tracks – without having to wait for a visit to the school nurse's office.
Right to Carry Asthma Inhalers
Kids who have asthma often don't have a lot of warning before an asthma attack starts. It can seem like one minute they are playing like any other kid, and then the next, they are wheezing or coughing uncontrollably. They may not even be aware that they've been exposed to a triggering substance.
When an asthma attack strikes, a quick response is crucial in order to prevent a rapid worsening of the asthma symptoms. The treatment of choice in the event of an asthma attack is a quick-relief, or rescue, inhaler, which most often contains albuterol of some kind. At home, your child will almost always have quick access to his inhaler, or at least to a parent or other caregiver who can supply one.
But inhalers (and other medications) traditionally were kept in the nurse's office. That may not seem far from the classroom or the playground, but it can be an eternity to a child struggling to breathe. The wait alone can increase the level of stress, thereby increasing the severity of symptoms. So, current laws allowing a child with asthma to keep the inhaler in a pocket or backpack offers a much better solution.
Due to lobbying by the Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA), a leading nonprofit patient advocacy and education organization, most lawmakers throughout the United States have recognized this need, and passed laws guaranteeing kids' right to carry their rescue inhalers. As of April 2008, Connecticut and South Dakota are the only states without laws that protect children's rights to carry medication. A few states allow kids to carry inhalers, but nothing else, although some of those regulations are pending.
Right to Carry Anaphylaxis Medication
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergy attack that can strike without warning, even if it has never happened before. It sometimes starts out looking like an asthma attack. However, it does not respond to a quick-relief inhaler, growing much worse quickly. If epinephrine is not given quickly, death can result.
Anaphylaxis is most common in response to a food allergy or stinging insect allergy, but can occur in response to almost any allergy trigger, if the conditions are right. Luckily, an easy to use autoinjectable epinephrine syringe was developed so that almost anyone, even a child, can quickly give a lifesaving dose of medication to stop an anaphylaxis attack. One brand is called the EpiPen.
However, many schools were afraid to allow EpiPens to be carried by students in school. So AANMA went to bat for kids' rights laws that govern epinephrine too. Not quite as many states allow students to bring epinephrine to school, as of April 2008, but this is changing rapidly.
To check to see whether your state protects your child's rights to carry medication, visit the Students and Medication at School page at AANMA. You can find information there, as well as a color-coded map that will help you quickly identify where your state stands.
If your state does allow your child the right to carry inhalers and / or autoinjectable epinephrine, check with your school to see what their policies are. They should be in line with state law, but if not, then you'll need to educate school officials and advocate for your child. AANMA has an online advocacy center that provides tips and help along those lines.
Your next step is to be sure your child knows how to carry this medicine so that it can be accessed quickly and easily. He will also need to know how to use the medication. In addition, chat with both the teacher and your school nurse to make sure that they understand how to use the medication, so that your child will have someone to turn to for support.
As a final thought, you can also advocate at your school to change local regulations. Every child should go to an Asthma-Friendly School, which means that the school environment is as trigger-free as possible.
Source:
"Students and Medication at School." Breatherville. 28 Apr 2008.
