Members of the board of education voted Monday evening to approve the use of EpiPen kits to be used at the five county schools, as well as for sports teams to take to road games.
The EpiPen kits contain a dose of Epinephrine, a synthetic version of adrenaline used to treat allergic reactions. National food allergy guidelines name Epinephrine as the only recommended first line of treatment for anaphylaxis.
At the regular meeting of the school board, held Thursday night at DeKalb West School, board members chose to accept a donation of the devices from the Cookeville Regional Charitable Foundation (CRCF), which will furnish the pens free of charge.
CRCF Director John Bell, accompanied by Dr. Charles Womack of Cookeville Regional Medical Center, told the board that the pens would be provided through EpiPen4Schools, a program which furnishes them free to public schools.
“We are working on a project in partnership with Dr. Womack and a few other physicians to provide EpiPens to Putnam County and all the surrounding counties,” Bell told the board. “There is a program called EpiPen4Schools, which is a national company that provides free EpiPen kits for any public school in the nation. The first component of this project is to make sure everyone is aware that you can order these kits free of charge annually for all of your schools. We are happy to help you walk through that process and Dr. Womack has offered to write prescriptions that are necessary in order to receive those free kits. Through donations to the charitable foundation, we are able to fund additional kits for traveling sports teams in high schools. We have provided kits to all of the Putnam County High Schools for their sports teams and at White County and we are hoping that you will come on board as well.”
Womack said that training in the use of the pens will be provided for coaches and other staff, and that state law allowed for use of the devices by school personnel.
“The legislature passed a law in 2013 authorizing school personnel to use the EpiPen kits in an emergency with liability immunity,” he shared. “It can be the difference between life and death. If you have a peanut allergy, or get stung by a bee or wasp, it can be just a matter of minutes before you are in a life threatening crisis.”
The doctor went on to say that thanks to funds raised by the CRCF, the pens, nor replacements, will be paid for by the school system.
“The EpiPen kit costs about $400,” Womack said. “It's quite expensive, but if you purchase it through the school program you can buy them for just over $100. We have raised money to buy kits for the sports teams, and we’ll do this annually as long as we’ve got the money.”
It is estimated that one in every 13 children has an allergy that can lead to anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially deadly reaction. Allergies often do not become apparent until children reach puberty.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that allergic reactions result in more than 300,000 ambulatory-care visits each year among children under the age of 18.
