No more school food allergy deaths. My letter to you…

Dear food allergic parents, friends, schools and anyone who interacts with a child or adult with food allergies,

Please stop this very second and read my letter to you.  
The time has come for us, all of us, to BE THE CHANGE and put an end to any further food allergy related deaths at school, work or anywhere!  This week’s tragic food allergy death of Chesterfield County, VA first grader, Ammaria Johnson, was one giant wake up call to  “Be the change we wish to see in the World” (I just love quoting Ghandi).


Together, you and I can make a difference with small steps and the good news is that we aren’t moving a mountain!  I have some ideas to brainstorm with you, but first we must discuss what happened to Ammaria so we can brainstorm our Change.
What happened to inspire The Change:  We may never know the full details of Ammaria’s story expect for what we are reading through various media reports…
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• Ammaria experiences hives and difficulty breathing at recess
• Her teacher rushes her to the nurse’s office, but there is no life saving epinephrine available
• It is known to the school that she has food allergies and asthma and had an Emergency Action Plan
• The school calls 911 and they arrive “less that five minutes” later
• Ammaria is pronounced dead at the hospital

[/unordered_list] What went wrong:  from my perspective via current media reports here is what believe…
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• Lack of education
• Lack of education
• Lack of education
• Lack of epinephrine
• Possibly lack of resources

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Why lack of education?
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• Ammaria’s mother stated in one news report that she brought her child’s medications to school but was told the Epi Pen® was not needed.  If this is correct, her mother was not properly educated enough on food allergy management that the information was incorrect and her child MUST have life saving epinephrine available at all times.
• Regarding food allergy management, did Ammaria’s physician properly educate her mother?
• Chesterfield County School District has a food allergy policy and had an Emergency Action Plan in place for this child.  Yet, life saving medications were not on hand.  Was this since no one realized that no medications were given to the school?  Did the school nurse request an Epi Pen® and the parent failed to provide one?  Did the district need to be educated on reviewing each students health plan and then be educated on how to work with the parent to obtain the life saving medication.  If cost was a factor then had the district been educated on which programs are available in their county to assist?
• Was the staff handling the emergency properly trained to manage the situation?
• Written policy is wonderful, but having the ability to understand the policy, work towards prevention and execution of the policy is the reality.  Was staff able to execute the policy?

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Why lack of epinephrine and resources?
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• The Emergency Access to Epinephrine Act (S.1884)  has recently been introduced on Capital Hill as bill encouraging States to create legislation that will allow each school to maintain stock epinephrine.  Had Hopkins Elementary maintained epinephrine in stock then the school nurse could have used that medication to save Ammaria’s life.
• Epi Pens® are extremely costly and recently Dey, the makers of Epi Pen® stopped selling single packs, thus forcing consumers to purchase twin packs.  In my town, a twin pack costs around $200.  This cost could prohibit folks from purchasing Epi Pens®.  They are late, but Dey promised to create an assistance program as of Dec 31, 2011.  Hopefully, this program will be available quickly.  I wonder about how many families  who do not leave Epi Pens® at school so that they can maintain them at home?  Often, insurance companies only allow two Epi Pens® per year.  In theory, we should maintain two at home and two at school.

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The Change:
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• Re-educate yourself.
• Re-educate your friends, family, co-workers and colleagues.
• Re-educate your school, your child’s classmates, other parents.
• Ask your school to create a food allergy policy.
• Ask your school how well does their food allergy policy work and have they hosted a practice drill of a food allergic reaction.
• Make a call, send an email or write a letter to your US Senator asking for  co-sponsorship and support regarding the Emergency Access to Epinephrine Act (S.1884).
• Ask Dey to finalize their assistance program and ask about local resources that will help you get life saving Epi Pens®.
• Wake up everyday thankful and grateful that we have options and opportunities to make change.

[/unordered_list] I hope you will join me in Being The Change and stepping up to re-educating ourselves and others, working on access to resources and  getting the Emergency Access to Epinephrine Act (S.1884) passed!
Wishing you a safe, happy and inspired weekend!
Sincerely,
[typography font=”Lobster” size=”24″ size_format=”px”]Caroline[/typography]