Chronic illnesses and conditions such as asthma, allergies, and others require direct access to their medication immediately. Otherwise, there can be serious consequences. This could have happened in this Reddit case, in which a school in Kansas ignored the medical needs of a student with asthma during a trip. This poor student had to endure the chest pain of not being able to breathe properly for hours, and no one cared or did anything for her.
The Redditor misamizu039 shared their disturbing case on r/legaladvice. OP’s daughter, a 3rd grader, suffers from severe food allergy and activity-induced asthma. According to OP, the school has an EpiPen and an inhaler, but they had already spoken to the school staff about not providing these to their daughter when she needed them. For example, as this girl has activity-induced asthma, her doctor recommended that she use an inhaler before going to the gym to prevent an attack. Unfortunately, the nurse at this Kansas school told the student that she did not need it, ignoring her medical needs and telling her she should return when she couldn’t breathe.
The main issue is that OP’s daughter had a field trip, and on this trip, she had an asthma attack, and there was no medication for her. According to OP, no medication is available on these trips. So, the girl had to suffer chest pain for hours. What upset OP the most is that they spoke to the principal, who said there are no procedures to ensure that the medications are available to the students when they need them off campus. In addition, the principal called the incident an “oversight.” That’s why OP asked for advice, because their daughter was in great danger, and fortunately, many Redditors answered right away with:
I am a teacher in Kansas, I can’t give legal advice, but I can share what my district’s policy is for students with meds. At the beginning of the year, ALL staff (everyone from office to cafeteria workers), HAVE to have training each year with EpiPens with our school nurse. Anyone who has contact with students. For grade level students with health issues, all grade level teachers and support staff are trained on that students needs and what to do in an emergency. I teach prek, so I only go on one field trip a year. But for that super short field trip, I have to have my emergency bag and if prek has a student that has special meds (EpiPen, inhaler, etc) we have a grade level med bag that goes with one of the grade level teachers. Things like Benadryl for bee stings, are kept with the teacher at all times if going outside for recess.
Known-Library9521
I have serious concerns with the nurse saying that she didn’t need her inhaler until she couldn’t breathe. Especially if the Dr said to take it before to prevent the need for it later. The admin and the people you talked to should have shown far more concern about the issue.
As my mom used to say, be the squeaky wheel. She always said she would be the loudest squeaky wheel when it came to fighting for what her kids needed.
As a teacher, I am so sorry that you are dealing with that and that the school your children are isn’t keeping them safe health wise.
OP wants to do something against the school, not only for ignoring their daughter, but that negligence could have killed her. Also, this parent says they spoke to the superintendent, so hopefully, the board or someone higher up in the hierarchy will take matters into their own hands and do what is necessary to ensure this does not happen again.
