Plan Would Allow Children To Carry Own Inhalers - Legislation Inspired By Death Of Camper

wnne ^

[chance33_98]

Plan Would Allow Children To Carry Own Inhalers

Legislation Inspired By Death Of Camper

POSTED: 7:14 p.m. EST January 30, 2003

CONCORD, N.H. -- The House passed two bills Thursday to allow children who have asthma or allergies to carry their own inhalers at school or at camps in New Hampshire.

The legislation was inspired by the death of 14-year-old Jovahny Ortiz, who died of an asthma attack last summer at a YMCA summer camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. His inhaler was kept in a locker away from his cabin.

The legislation would allow children to carry inhalers if they have permission from their doctor and parents. It exempts schools and camps from liability if the proper procedure is followed.

The bills now move to the Senate.

[Larry Lucido]

Gee, imagine that. Trusting kids with medication.

[Dan from Michigan]

I carried mine with me 1/2 of the time anyway. Wasn't allowed. Too bad.

[chance33_98]

I carried mine with me 1/2 of the time anyway. Wasn't allowed. Too bad.

For shame! Quick, someone call the cops ;-)

[FairWitness]

Sorry to hear that a kid had to die before a sensible law could be passed.

[Windcatcher]

Maybe it's me, but WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY HAS THE USA TURNED INTO where a school administrator can countermand the wishes of a DOCTOR? It seems to me that, given a doctor's prescription, a child should be able to carry anything he or she needs to be healthy.

Talk about the height of arrogance. Then again, most of these people in the schools are leftists and are, of course, ubermenschen in their own eyes.

[mykdsmom]

I have asthma I can't imagine being caught in an attack w/o access to my inhaler. What a stupid tragedy this was.

MKM

[chance33_98]

My last post, while jesting, does sound rather weird when ya think about it - I can, sadly, imagine someone calling the police when they see a kid with their inhaler. Our world has gotten silly.

[DB]

Duh...

[chance33_98]

Maybe it's me, but WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY HAS THE USA TURNED INTO where a school administrator can countermand the wishes of a DOCTOR?

We have so many laws one wonders if we need ever fear having a dictator take over. It's now getting to the point where everyone needs an attorney before they even breathe.

[lmr]

I agree that the law is sensible. Not that I criticize the parents any, but I wouldn't let my daughter go ALONE by herself to camp if she had serious asthma like this. My comment would not apply to all asthmatics as some have mild conditions, but if a chance of death was there, My child would not go. I just don't trust other people to care for my children the way I do. Even if that meant keeping my daughter home and away from those activities which I know to be a part of growing up. (she is a mild asthmastic, from being born premature) I know I sound overprotective, maybe I am.

[Dan from Michigan]

Which is why I'm glad I graduated pre-Columbine.

[GermanBabies]

??????????

I'm must be getting old because I don't remember this being a problem when I went to school. What's the big deal of letting kids have their meds with them?

[chance33_98]

I know I sound overprotective, maybe I am.

I am with you on that. I was a deputy back in the 80's for a short while, saw enough terrible things to make me be paranoid. I am not sure the term is overly accurate though, overprotective, just being 'normally' protective nowadays seems to be labeled as such.

[coloradan]

WHAT?!?! Are you out of your mind?!?! Letting kids self-medicate?!?! Why, that would lead not only to a breakdown of everything our Great Society stands for, but even the tearing apart of the fabric of space-time itself! A truly caring society would take care of its children, and not force them to self-medicate for things like asthma. If it saves just one life ... for the children ...

/liberal

[NMFXSTC]

Mine was a preemie and is asthmatic as well, but...they need to live a normal life and she knows how and when to use an inhaler or a nebulizer.

She went to a week long camp and took the neb. along (thankfully didn't need it) and the teachers and counselors had no problem with that.

Any kid with chronic asthma knows the drill and can self adminsiter AND SHOULD! The CYA crap from school administration needs to stop.

[stylin_geek]

Linus has his security blanket, I had my inhaler all through school. (this was 20+ years ago) However, all of the "zero tolerance" anti drug pc nonsense is what created the conditions which allowed this camper to die. Because of this kind of attitude, we are now reduced to passing laws to cover what should be common sense.

[Fixit]

Catherine Seipp wrote a great piece last year for Reason entitled Asthma Attack: When "zero tolerance" collides with children’s health..

I was relieved when my daughter learned to read and proved she knew how to take her medicine by herself. Plus, unlike most adults, she was careful not to leave it locked in a hot car or sitting in the sun. One day when in the fifth grade, however, she was in tears when I picked her up from school. The teacher had yelled at her when she’d used the inhaler in class, claiming that she didn’t really need it.

I spoke to Ivanhoe’s then-principal, Kevin Baker. He said I’d been "breaking the law" for five years by keeping the inhaler in the backpack instead of in the office, and that he would "confiscate" it if he found it there in the future. If the school had allowed this before, he said, it was an oversight. "So now what we need to do," he explained, in a sing-songy, Romper Room voice, "is set up a series of intervention meetings to help you understand our concerns about you breaking the law." My arguments about doctor’s orders went nowhere. "When your daughter is at school," Principal Baker said, "I am the ultimate authority concerning her health."

That bastards like this have any chance whatsoever to impact in any way the lives of children infuriates me to no end.

[steplock]

"Sorry to hear that a kid had to die before a sensible law could be passed."

Let's try:

"Sorry to hear a law had to be passed." The blame is NOT in law but in the stupidity of the leftist-radical extremists.

LEFTIST RADICAL EXTREMIST - remember that phrase and quit using liberal democrat etc.

tell them like they are! LEFTIST RADICAL EXTREMIST

[hopespringseternal]

"When your daughter is at school," Principal Baker said, "I am the ultimate authority concerning her health."

At that point, I would have given him a few health issues of his own to worry about.