School district plan deals with life-threatening allergies

A new allergy policy adopted by the Carson City School Board should improve care given to students who suffer from food allergies or who carry an EpiPen or an inhaler.

The policy means the creation of peanut-free tables in cafeterias at all six of the district elementary schools in the fall.

The policy also puts Carson schools in line with state legislation passed in 2002 that allows students to self-administer for asthma or anaphylaxis, a severe reactive shock to an allergen, like a bee sting.

Only some elementary schools previously had areas where peanut butter sandwiches and peanut butter cookies were prohibited. Only a few students in the district have peanut allergies, according to Kevin Curnes, director of safety services for the Carson City School District.

"But it's important enough to where we do have a plan in place to protect those who do," he said.

Students with peanut allergies can experience skin rashes, respiratory difficulties or cardiovascular problems.

Come the beginning of the 2006-07 school year, parents of children with allergies need to fill out a health-care form with the school nurse. The nurse will then develop an action plan, which includes what should be done and who should be called in the case of an allergic reaction. If administering of medication is involved, the child's physician must sign the plan.

"It was being done differently at every building," said Richard Stokes, director of human resources for the district. "This will make the process uniform and a little more user-friendly."

The district policy lets students carry EpiPens and inhalers at school, but the hope is the policy will ensure that school nurses know who is carrying them.

The EpiPen contains epinephrine, which stimulates the heart, and can stop severe reactions, even death. All other medications must be given to nurses for administering.

"We had staff members that were being asked to be trained to help students use their EpiPens," Stokes said. "That's when we thought we don't have anything in writing and we started talking with school officials."

The new policy allows students bring in food allergy substitution forms, which would be given to homeroom teachers early in the day and sent to the cafeteria for preparation of a lunch substitute. Only students with an emergency health-care plan on file will be able to substitute food.

"What we're looking at is substituting the main course, not all the peripherals," Curnes said. "But we wanted to get a system in to where we know more about what the students' needs are and a better way of protecting those students."

District officials looked at polices from other districts and states before creating their own, according to Curnes. Allergies can include seafood, pollen, bee stings and peanuts.

• Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.