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February 21, 2012
To: Mr. Corey Palumbo
Dr. Dan Foster
Mr. Erik Wells
Mr. Brooks McCabe
Dear Sirs,
My name is Kimberly Earl and I write to you today on behalf of
my son, Jackson Earl , and the thousands of other
West Virginia school children who carry a life saving medication
know as an epinephrine auto-injector, most
commonly, the EpiPen. In the state of West Virginia, our
children are permitted to carry and administer their
EpiPens at school, and our teachers, school nurses and other
school personnel are trained to administer them to
children who may be having difficulty or are unable to
self-administer.
Unfortunately in West Virginia, we do not permit school bus
drivers to administer EpiPens. Instead, we require
bus drivers to radio or call 911, pull over and wait for
assistance. This is a tremendous problem. Id like to supply
you with a few facts:
Anaphylaxis may lead to death in as little as 15 minutes
Anaphylaxis may lead to brain damage in as little as 4 minutes The
immediateadministration of epinephrine is recommended for the
treatment of anaphylaxis by The
Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis network, the American Academy of
Family Physicians, the National
Institutes of Health, the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy
and Immunology , the American College
of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology and every other reputable
medical agency known.
In 2008, approximately 2,000 WV students carried a prescribed
EpiPen.Given the above facts, it is difficult to understand any
logic behind this flawed policy. I began asking questions
about why this policy exists in 2010 when my allergic son
entered Kindergarten. I have spoken with the County
and State Boards of Education. I have spoken with the State
Department of Transportation and the Nursing
Board. I have heard numerous excuses in the last two years that
I have been questioning this. None of them
amount to anything reasonable. Most often, one department simply
blames the other.
The bus driver has other students to worry about
This is about the only valid concern I have heard to date,
however it simply cannot be placed above the duty to
save a single childs life. It is a secondary concern if a
student is experiencing a heart attack. Then, we instruct a
driver to pull over and administer CPR (which takes much longer
than administering an EpiPen). You can be
assured a child experiencing untreated anaphylaxis is dying as
well.
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And if we are concerned about the other children, how about what
they will experience emotionally as they watch
a fellow classmate swell and turn red, then blue, gasp for air
as their throat swells shut and plead for help as they
die. I dont think anyone could say this is in the best interest
of any of our children.
The driver has a lot to do and cant be expected to be on the
watch for a child having an allergic reaction.
We already expect a driver to be aware of what is happening on
the bus. Again, we have protocol in place for the
treatment of children experiencing heart attacks and seizures,
why is an allergic reaction different? It is simply
another excuse.
When we are aware of a potentially harmful situation, we take
the precaution of putting an aide on the bus.
This would be fine it were actually feasible, however, the year
I asked for an aide I was told one could not be
found, that it was a difficult position to fill. And I suspect
it is. The other problem here is that there is potential
for harm on every bus. For heart attacks, seizures, diabetic
shock, broken bones, allergic reactions, and so forth.
So, why not an aide on every bus? No doubt because it is not
cost effective.
The bottom line is thiswe are failing. We are failing our
children, we are failing as human beings. We are
making excuses instead of simply saying, Yes, we will do the
right thing, we will save lives. It takes only minutesto train
someone to use an EpiPen, I am formally requesting the opportunity
to speak with you in person about
this issue and showyou just how simple this solution truly
is.
Two children have died in the last two years, one in Chicago and
another in Virginia due to the lack of the
administration of an EpiPen during a reaction at school.
However, just this February, a middle schoolers life was
saved by the administration of one on Valentines day in
Tennessee. Every single day, lives are saved from the
administration of epinephrine during an allergic reaction.
I would love to see West Virginia lead the way and say to the
rest of the nation, we have paid attention. We have
seen the results of not having this medication administered and
we will not allow it to happen here. If we really
want to be pioneers, we will make EpiPens available to ANY
student experiencing an allergic reaction, regardless
of a lack of an allergic diagnosis. It is no different than
using a defibrillator for a person in cardiac arrest, we dont
ask them first if they have a heart condition do we? No, we do
what they need to survive.
Again, I would be very grateful for the opportunity to discuss
this matter in person and begin taking steps to
protect our children. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Earl, Mother of four
ph # removed
[email protected]
