I am curious about those who have backup people to administer EPI pen at school. Are those people allowed to give Benadryl first if that is your doctor's protocol?
In NJ students are allowed to carry their epi pens and inhalers. the law says that the primary person to administer the epi is the school nurse. In her absence, other staff can be trained and there is a good samaritin law attached. BUT, if your doctor says benadryl for one response (hives, then if symptoms persist, EPI pen), a back up is voided because a lay person cannot give any meds besides lifesaving ones and that a lay person cannot make the differentiation between when to give benadryl and when to give epi pen.
Does anyone else have this situation? What are your state's rules for back up to give epi pen?
Who can give EPI pen at your school
Posted on: Wed, 08/30/2006 - 12:12am
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Our school's first choice is for the school nurse or health assistant to give the Epi. But the classroom teacher is also trained and keeps one if you provide the school with 2. Our protocol is to give Benadryl second with any symptoms, and the classroom teacher does not have Benadryl on hand. So the epi in the classroom is basically an emergency back-up for that only.
Honestly, I don't know our "state guidelines" for this question. Our plan calls for the adult who witnesses the reaction to administer the Epipen/Benadryl. The school agrees completely.
[This message has been edited by Lam (edited August 30, 2006).]
Our school nurse trains every staff member and whoever is around in the event of a reaction is to give Epi. My daughter also self-carries.
Our protocol is also to give Epi and then Benadryl.
At my son's school all staff have first-aid CPR training, including training on the epi-pen. Office, classroom, caretaker, lunchroom supervisor -- they can all administer epi-pen.
Our instructions are benedryl for any itching/bite (he's allergic to insects), epi if it *might* be anaphylactic. Even though benedryl is an OTC, I still had to have the doctor include it on the medical form as they are not allowed to give ANY medication without written authorization from a doctor and parent.
I think that the sticky part is that they don't want the delegates (people trained on the epi-pen, but without further medical training), to be deciding on the course of action during a reaction. So, basically, if a reaction occurs and no nurse available, epi would be given. The delegate can not decide to give benadryl or inhaler, etc.
This poses a problem particularly for a child who has contact reactions. You wouldn't want a child to get the epi and be transported to the hospital for hives or itchy eyes. This seems to me to be the problem with the law, although in reality, I don't personally know of excessive epi-penning happening. So, I guess this could cause a child not to receive meds that they are in need of, causing a reaction to progress or receive epi-pen when not needed.
[This message has been edited by Naturemom (edited August 30, 2006).]
Our school's first choice is for the school nurse or health assistant to give the Epi. But the classroom teacher is also trained and keeps one if you provide the school with 2. Our protocol is to give Benadryl second with any symptoms, and the classroom teacher does not have Benadryl on hand. So the epi in the classroom is basically an emergency back-up for that only.
Honestly, I don't know our "state guidelines" for this question. Our plan calls for the adult who witnesses the reaction to administer the Epipen/Benadryl. The school agrees completely.
[This message has been edited by Lam (edited August 30, 2006).]
Our school nurse trains every staff member and whoever is around in the event of a reaction is to give Epi. My daughter also self-carries.
Our protocol is also to give Epi and then Benadryl.
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