Teenager In Trouble In Inhaler Incident (Gives inhaler to asthma sufferer; gets expelled)

KPRC-TV/DT Houston ^ | 10.8.03

[mhking]

A teenager was disciplined for sharing medication used to treat asthma, but he said it saved his girlfriend's life, News2Houston reported Wednesday.

Andra Ferguson and her boyfriend, Brandon Kivi, both 15, use the same type of asthma medicine, Albuterol Inhalation Aerosol.

Ferguson said she forgot to bring her medication to their school, Caney Creek High School, on Sept. 24. When she had trouble breathing, she went to the nurse's office.

Out of concern, Kivi let her use his inhaler.

"I was trying to save her life. I didn't want her to die on me right there because the nurse's office (doesn't) have breathing machines," Kivi said.

"It made a big difference. It did save my life. It was a Good Samaritan act," Ferguson said.

But the school nurse said it was a violation of the district's no-tolerance drug policy, and reported Kivi to the campus police.

The next day, he was arrested and accused of delivering a dangerous drug. Kivi was also suspended from school for three days. He could face expulsion and sent to juvenile detention on juvenile drug charges.

The mothers of both teenagers are angry.

"My son will not go to jail. This is ridiculous," said Theresa Hock, Kivi's mother. "I believe he shouldn't be punished at all because he was helping her. She was in distress."

"If he hadn't helped her, she would have passed out or died or something because her asthma's been really bad this year," said Sandra Ferguson, Andra's mother.

The school principal said he couldn't do anything about it since Kivi not only broke school rules, but also allegedly violated state law.

"It's simply a matter that it's classified as a dangerous drug. It's an inhaler form, but yet, if it had been in pill form or any other, it's still classified as a dangerous drug," said Greg Poole, the Caney Creek principal.

"Would Caney Creek had want Andra to have died rather than my son to help her?" Hock said.

Poole said the nurse never considered Andra to be in a life-threatening situation.

The school district will hold a hearing on the matter Friday.

[Born Conservative]

After finishing my first rant based solely on the title and first few sentences, I read through the rest of the article, and I'm even more dumbfounded than before: Albuterol is classified as a dangerous drug? NO WAY! I have personally given large amounts of this to infants, and the worst I have ever seen is a child who had some harmless changes in heart rhythm called PVC's (for those of you who are medical professionals, 1cc of Albuterol per hour via continuous neb for almost 24 hours). In the clinic I work in, it's not uncommon to give 3 Albuterol nebulizer treatments in a row to "break" an asthma attack; usually the pt just gets shaky and the pulse gets a little fast. This principal is also off his rocker; school professionals need to stick to education and leave the medical decisions up to the appropriate people (another example: school teachers and principals "diagnosing" a child as ADHD and saying they need Ritalin). OK, I've stepped down off of my soapbox; I feel MUCH better now.

[Slainte]

The principal is
Gregory Poole
936-231-2400
gpoole@conroe.isd.tenet.edu

The school nurse is
Kathy Ogden
936-231-3330
keogden@conroe.isd.tenet.edu

Dr. Don Stockton Superintendent
dostockton@conroe.isd.tenet.edu

The Conroe Independent Schools Board of Trustees
http://www.conroe.isd.tenet.edu/about/board/board.asp

[RadioAstronomer]

bttt

[Mo1]

But the school nurse said it was a violation of the district's no-tolerance drug policy, and reported Kivi to the campus police.

Ummmm .. Why was this nurse unprepared to help this girl and give medical help??

Sue the school

[Polybius]

The school district will hold a hearing on the matter Friday.

This is one instance where a lawyer rabidly threatening the principal, the school board, the school district, the nurse, the community property of their spouses and their pet dogs with a multi-million dollar lawsuit for mental cruelty, false arrest, child endangerement, long term psychological harm and Latin phrases they have never heard before would actually serve a useful civic purpose.

[supercat]

The next day, he was arrested and accused of delivering a dangerous drug. Kivi was also suspended from school for three days. He could face expulsion and sent to juvenile detention on juvenile drug charges.

Under most state laws, nearly any criminal offense is excusable if the actor reasonably believed that such act was necessary to save someone's life, and if the benefit of such act would significantly outweigh any possible harm.

Such circumstances certainly apply here.

[ChefKeith]

just marking the fire hydrant for a later sniff

[Marie]

I had one bad summer a few years ago. (Construction work on the building I was living in overseas stirred up something that I reacted to.) It's the only time in my life I've ever suffered from asthma and it was the worst 2-month hell I've ever been through. I had two different inhalers and three different oral medications and still almost passed out a few times. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

Oxygen isn't important until you don't have any.

[Dimensio]

This news story has been making the rounds -- I first saw it on fark.com, and I've no doubt that it will be spread elsewhere. I suspect that a few inboxes will be overstuffed tomorrow morning. I also suspect that these e-mails have little to no effect on the bone-headed decision that inevitably awaits the life-saving and now "criminal" student.

[BudgieRamone]

5 years ago I almost died from an allergic reaction/asthma attack at work..a major aircraft manufacturer with its parent company in Peoples Republic of Massachusetts (Raythe..oops)My supervisor "had to" follow policy--He thought I was faking and screwing off--he called plant security, and they took 15 minutes to get there. The security guard/health officer got there took one look at me put an oxygen mask on me and told the dispatcher to call EMS. The answer back from the dispatcher was "We don't have a nurse or doctor to authorize that."--it was weekend 2nd shift. He told the dispatcher to call it anyway, he would take responsibility. There was a long pause and the dispatcher said OK. Meanwhile my supervisor started to have the grim realization that I was in serious trouble and he went to grab one of the golf carts to ferry me to the far east end of the plant where the ambulance was sent. I don't remember much after being loaded into the ambulance other than begging the EMS crew to shoot me full of epinephrine , which they wouldn't do because *I* was not a doctor and didn't know asthma treatment protocol. At the hospital I heard one of the Paramedics tell the ER people "He was asking for epinephrine all the way here." That got action. I was promptly stuck with two needles worth, and by this time it was almost too late. The ER staff was asking if I had a religious preference, If there was someone they could call, I was so bad tht they brought out a bottle of heli-ox and used that to deliver medications (It was considered "experimental" at the time). That finally leveled it off. I only found out a couple days later when I was leaving the hospital that the doctor and ER staff had told my folks they didn't expect me to come out of the ER that night. I recovered quickly and was back to work wednesday (after recieving two attendance infractions from my jerk weed boss--the same one who drove me to the ambulance). Just my two bits worth as relating to the story..:)

[dcwusmc]

This is just another result of the war on (some) drugs. When a single drug is banned by law, these byproducts of the mating of hamsters and gila monsters won't allow ANY drugs because they are too afraid that they'd actually have to think and, most dreaded of all, make decisions. But school nurses are real quick to pump "hyperactive" kids full of Ritalin because too many teachers want a classroom full of zombies. Go figure!

[richmwill]

What was this "nurse" planning to do to help this girl without the use of an inhaler? This is unbelievable. Let's see- her boyfriend gave her immediate help and relief, and he's facing charges and suspension. If the nurse had held the girls hand while an ambulance tried to weave through traffic, get to the school, and reach the girl, and the girl died- while an inhaler that will save her life is mere feet away but in someone else's possession- the nurse, it seems, would have "done nothing wrong" in the eyes of the school board. What's next- if someone is choking in a school cafeteria and someone gives them the heimlich maneuver, will that person be charged with "assault"?

Rich

[Chewbacca]

"What's next- if someone is choking in a school cafeteria and someone gives them the heimlich maneuver, will that person be charged with "assault"?"


More likely they would be charged with practicing medicine without a license.

[packrat35]

I've been there myself. And you descibe it perfectly. This $hit pisses me off. I can't believe this happened in the USA. Save a life-GO TO JAIL.

[packrat35]

You get my praise. You did the right thing.

[dennisw]

great story!!!

[packrat35]

I can say without doubt that if my company and boss had done that to me, I would have killed them and pled temporary insanity.

[dennisw]

I don't remember much after being loaded into the ambulance other than begging the EMS crew to shoot me full of epinephrine , which they wouldn't do because *I* was not a doctor and didn't know asthma treatment protocol. At the hospital I heard one of the Paramedics tell the ER people "He was asking for epinephrine all the way here."

One would think they would phone up ahead and ask an emergency room doctor if they should inject the epinephrine you wanted.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

While it will serve little purpose, I expended a few electrons letting the principal and the superintendent know just what kind of idiots I believe them to be. I shant waste my digital breath on the nurse as she is obviously incapable of reasoning on any level above imbecile. This is why many our children are coming out of school unable to reason, they are under the care of fools and it's catching.

[erikm88]

The thing is... People who have potentially fatal medical conditions are usually very well educated about their condition. There may be some exceptions, but of all the asthmatics I have met all of them are very familiar with the procedures on how to treat their asthmatic episode.

Being an asthmatic myself, I am familiar with the course of treatment at varying levels. Emergency treatment, maintenance treatment and urgent treatment. I am familiar with my lungs' capabilities and know when I need to go to the ER versus taking my peak flow readings periodically while sitting tight and waiting for the episode to pass.

The request for epinephrine was not some random course of treatment for an anphylactic episode. Depending on the severity of asthma, physicians prescribe the epi-pens mentioned in a previous post, and various other emergency/urgent treatment options.

Sometimes the patient knows exactly what is needed, whether the doctor is around or not...

I know type I diabetics would agree with me...

--erik