The St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) have complied with a state law passed in the 2012 regular legislative session aimed at students with life-threatening allergic reactions.

The allergic reactions are knows as anaphylaxis. The U.S. National Library of Medicine says, “Anaphylaxis is a severe, whole-body allergic reaction to a chemical that has become an allergen. After being exposed to a substance such as bee sting venom, the person’s immune system becomes sensitized to it. When the person is exposed to that allergen again, an allergic reaction may occur. Anaphylaxis happens quickly after the exposure, is severe, and involves the whole body. Tissues in different parts of the body release histamine and other substances. This causes the airways to tighten and leads to other symptoms.”

The school system had in place emergency action plans to handle students who have been identified with known anaphylaxis. Their parents or legal guardians are required to provide “auto-injectable epinephrine to be given, if needed,” according to Supervisor of Health Services Patricia Wince in a report to the school board at its Sept. 12 meeting.

Wince said that 238 students have been identified as having known anaphylaxis, although all of their parents/guardians have not supplied the EpiPen, which is the injector device for epinephrine. The students carry the EpiPen around with them everywhere and if it needs to be administered the school nurse is summoned. Every staff person who comes in contact with that student is also trained to administer the epinephrine.

Wince said school nurses typically run when called and can be to a location in even the largest schools within five minutes. She said there is a window of opportunity of about 15 minutes to administer the antidote.

The state law, however, is directed not only to aid those students who have been identified, but a student who hasn’t with a unpredictable life-threatening allergic reaction, which most often comes from peanut or peanut byproducts or bee stings, although there are other types of allergies as well.

According to Wince, Calvert and Charles had previously initiated a program to have the EpiPens available in each school in the case of such an emergency with a child not previously identified. Wince told the school board, “I really think we are out of the norm,” in that 50 percent of school systems were already in compliance.

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