New law trains teachers how to use EpiPens

Earlier this week, ABC2 told you about the new law requiring public schools in Maryland to stock EpiPens for students who have an unexpected allergic reaction.

Part of that law is making sure teachers and staff know how to use EpiPens properly.

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When you walk through the doors at Longfellow Elementary School in Columbia, you can see what they do to keep kids with allergies safe.

In the kitchen, lunches are allergy and nut free. In the cafeteria, there's a peanut free table. In the library, there's books about allergies.

And this year, there's something new. 4 EpiPens are stocked in the nurse's office in case a child with an unknown allergy has a severe allergic reaction.

Susan McHale, the school cluster nurse says, "I think this law really helps us put another safeguard in place for students. We can respond right away with emergency medication in an emergency situation."  

The new law was prompted by what happened to Amarria Johnson. The first grader from Virginia died last year after eating a peanut at school.

Before the new school year started, McHale was responsible for training teachers and the principal how to use EpiPens.

Having the entire staff trained allows them to respond more quickly if an emergency were to come up.

The EpiPens are kept in a bag in the health room. Principal Laurel Marsh says, "If there was an emergency situation that came up a staff member can always call down to the health room and then our cluster nurse can respond with that bag quickly. It also allows anyone to have access to it because it's right there in the health room. It's clearly labeled so if for some reason the nurse was not in the health room... We all know where it's located."

For parents with kids who have severe allergies, having teachers and staff ready to respond is an added assurance.

Delea Barkdoll, whose son has severe food allergies says, “It makes me feel better that it doesn't have to be the school nurse or the cluster nurse, that it can be his homeroom teacher or the paraeducator, who is available to do it."

Marsh says, "That is our number one goal to make sure that kids are safe here at school and so I think this law helps us to do that."

It’s a law aimed at making sure no other kid loses their life from a severe allergic reaction.

The new law does cost money. Not only does each school have to be stocked with EpiPens, but every year they have to be replaced because EpiPens expire.