SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) – A new state law will require some students to learn how to help one of their classmates if they’re having an allergic reaction.
“It does put my mind at ease that the potential for her friends and her peer group to understand what that allergy is, how to administer an EpiPen, signs and symptoms to look for, I think that’s extremely important,” Tiffany Mathis, the CEO and executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois, said.
Mathis’ daughter has had tree nut allergies since she was two years old.
“She’s always been very vocal even since she was about two years old and we discovered she had the allergy, always very conscious and aware of ‘Hey, are there tree nuts in that? I can’t have that,’” Mathis said.
Now, she’s 12 and is in middle school. Mathis said her daughter has talked to her friends about her allergies.
“If there’s an event and there’s like macadamia nut cookies, and next to a chocolate chip cookie, it’s even sometimes when things are touching that she has to be mindful,” Mathis said. “So when those things happen, that’s when she’s like, ‘Oh, I have a tree nut allergy and they’re like, Well, what does that mean?’ And then she kind of lets them know, ‘I have an EpiPen. I take Benadryl. This is kind of how I handle that.’”
Under the new law, students in grades 9-12 will be required to learn how to recognize if someone’s having an allergic reaction, how to limit someone’s exposure to allergens and how to administer epinephrine.
Dr. Kurt Bloomstrand, the chair of emergency services at OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center, said this will be valuable for students to know.
“I think it’s important to get this information out to students as they’re in a congregate area, and there’s maybe a little bit higher chance of exposure to certain allergens, such as food being one of them,” Bloomstrand said.
Bloomstrand also said these tools can help save lives.
“Time really makes a difference,” Bloomstrand said. “Those patients who are experiencing an allergic reaction, most importantly, [an] anaphylactic reaction can be very life threatening, and minutes matter, seconds matter.”
The law goes into effect January 1, and this education for students will begin the 2024-2025 school year.
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July 4, 2023 at 02:50AM
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