GILBERT, AZ - If you've ever had a child suffer an allergic reaction then you know how scary it can be.
Right now, there's a big push in Arizona schools to prevent these types of attacks.
"I feel a little bit scared on the bus," explained Jacqueline Everhart, "I'm afraid if someone ever touches me or something."
That's because the precocious 3rd grader is gravely allergic to peanuts.
"I felt devastated because I'm the one that gave it to her," said Jacqueline's mother Monica Everhart. She remembers the first time she fed her then 18-month-old peanut butter.
"Gave her a quarter of a teaspoon, put her down for a nap," Everhart recalled, "Coughing, hacking, wheezing [and] by then her eyes were swollen shut, hives head to toe problems breathing so I called 911.
Now, 8 1/2 years old Jacqueline knows exactly what to do if she goes into anaphylactic shock. She uses an EpiPen.
An EpiPen is an injection used to treat severe allergic reactions to things like insect stings, bites, drugs or allergens.
"So if I have a reaction and I can't really talk I just show them this and flip it over."
"In these situations time is of the essence," explained Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal. He helped pass a new law in Arizona requiring all public schools stock EpiPens to help stop severe allergic reactions.
"When an allergic reaction is unfolding they need to act," Huppenthal said. "That's why they need to be prepared with the training so they have confidence to act."
Huppenthal said the law was put in place to protect school personnel from liability. Given our state's nursing shortage, however, he recommends parents be proactive and talk to your child's school about any allergies.
"They have it set up here at school that she has a peanut allergy table," Everhart smiled thankfully. "So she's not sitting with her classmates but she's at a separate table that's is sterilized and cleaned separately."
All of Jacqueline's teachers and classmates at her school, Weinberg Elementary in Gilbert, know to keep peanuts out of her path.
"Just having to know that I'm allergic to peanuts...it just like scatters me," Jacqueline smiled.
And our state is taking steps to put kids, like her, at ease.
downtownresident posted at 5:39 pm on Wed, Sep 12, 2012.
It's about time that these things are recognized. This isn't a commie plot.
Kids don't get high on EpiPens. They save lives.
k33j88 posted at 5:50 am on Thu, Sep 13, 2012.
Dear downt: Why don't you take your child back to home school? You can take their impressionable young minds and mold them to be excelling marxists. Or force the taxpayers to build nut free , pollen/dust free, lactose intolerant free schools. Public schools are already "conservative free". The "marxist/socialist-in-chief has already spent us into the 16trillion mark. Whats a few more trillion?
wdgnas posted at 7:13 am on Thu, Sep 13, 2012.
k33j88: wow! revisionist history at its finest. auditioning for a job with fox or rush are we?
k33j88 posted at 11:48 am on Thu, Sep 13, 2012.
Dear wdgnas: And what do you propose? Dissent protects democracy, but it's time for the pendulum to swing back. Otherwise, we will become a 3rd rate nation of tax users, fully immersed in the entitlement mentality. Do you emulate the nation of Greece? Another downgrade by Moody's, S&P, and Fitch is coming unless we, as a nation, come to terms with our overbearing federal debt. When will you come to realize that "promote the general welfare" is not a green light for an ever-expanding federal bureaucracy, complete with a 82,000 plus federal registry. States rights are continually being trampled. It is up to the states, with taxpayer knowledge and approval, to insure citizenry's desires are being met. The Constitution explicitly states that the federal govn't 's only responsibility is to protect this nation from enemies, foreign and domestic. Dept of housing & urban development, Dept of Education, EPA, and the rest have no legitimacy.
DonMey posted at 1:25 pm on Thu, Sep 13, 2012.
How is a school liable for your kid's allergic reaction to a common substance? If you have a severe allergy, take responsibility for your own life (or your kids) and provide the epi-pen yourself.