>Law: In Mass, non-nursing school personnel can give an injection in an
>emergency that is deemed to be life-threatening - which makes the
>Epi-Pen ok.  Oral medications can only be administered by a school nurse
>- which makes the Benedryl NOT ok.  I haven't seen the law, so there's
>probably a bunch of missing detail here. Seems that this has caused some
>conflict between the administration and the nursing staff long before I
>showed up.
>

I have been reminded about Ellie Goldberg, the person who provided great
leadership and perseverence in Massachusetts to get the laws changed -
before she started, it was illegal for children in MA to carry their
medications with them. Now they can, with their doctor's permission.

She has written some valuable resources about the law and about advocacy
for your children. You can contact her at:

Ellie Goldberg, M.Ed.
Healthy Kids:  The key to Basics
79 Elmore Ave
Newton, MA  02159-1137
(617) 965- 9637

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(Thanks, again,  Lynda)

>Solution: The school will provide on-call nursing coverage during the
>afterschool program.  They will fund it, staff it, etc.  This provides
>coverage for the other 37 kids in the program (including one other with
>a severe peanut allergy) which was lacking the last four years.  The
>on-call part works for me since emergencies are covered on-site, and the
>Benedryl is more a medium-term treatment.  I am usually less than five
>minutes from the school - but I can also be off-site, which is why other
>coverage is needed.  Phone coverage is immediate.
>

In our case, several potentially severe allergic reactions have been headed
off with the quick administration of oral antihistamines. For us, the is
the preferred approach, because it is often difficult for us to predict
when a reaction is going to progress into one that needs epi and medical
intervention. (For the swift, severe ones, there's no doubt). That's where
we were in a bind and is one of the reasons Leslie got a beeper and didn't
get a jobs outside of town. Now that Josh can self-administer, it's less of
a concern.

>I was speechless when the director called.  I had expected a fight from
>the admin.  I hope the school nurses don't kill me... so far we've been
>working together well.
>

Fortunately for you, some effective advocates have already blazed a trial
for you.

____________________________________________________________
Mark Feblowitz                  GTE Laboratories Incorporated
[log in to unmask]              40 Sylvan Road, Waltham, MA 02154-1120