Senate Education Committee advances bill to expand emergency epinephrine access in Vermont schools

The Senate Education Committee on May 14 heard testimony on H.209, legislation to expand access to emergency epinephrine in Vermont schools and to clarify which school personnel may manage that stock.

Courtney O'Brien, interim operations director at the Agency of Education, said the agency "is very much in support of the consensus language that was reached and is reflected in the most updated version of the bill." She said the changes "will allow for the verification of roles and responsibilities for school administrators and school nurses" and "allow for expanded access to emergency epinephrine stock in multiple approved forms."

The bill’s language, O'Brien said, was revised to avoid overly specific wording that might have restricted schools’ ability to obtain epinephrine. "The updated language does address the agency's previous concerns that any overly specific language around school nurse inclusion may have inadvertently created barriers or limitations to allowing all schools access to epinephrine stock," she said.

Caitlin Pazas, a student…