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Maricopa County program lets schools keep epinephrine, albuterol and Narcan on site
Summary
Maricopa County Department of Public Health’s school stock medication program allows enrolled schools to keep emergency respiratory and allergy medications on hand and provides training; 730 schools are enrolled, officials said.
Maricopa County’s Department of Public Health is providing a school stock medication program that lets enrolled schools maintain on-site prescriptions for emergency drugs such as epinephrine, albuterol and naloxone (Narcan), officials said.
The program, which includes training open to any school staff or community members, has enrolled 730 schools, and public health nurses and school staff said it has helped responders treat on-campus respiratory and allergic emergencies before calling 911.
School nurse Rachel Muth said acute asthma episodes at school can be hard to manage when students do not have their own medication or when parents are unreachable. “In the past, if I had somebody that was having an acute episode of asthma, they didn’t have an inhaler. I would start calling the parents. It’s not easy to get in touch with parents, especially parents that work or they don’t have a phone or they can’t carry their phone,” Muth said. She described using warm water, breathing exercises and other measures while hoping the student did not deteriorate to the point that 911 had to be called.
Muth said she is grateful for the partnership with the county. “The program, most important, is it provides a dedicated training for Narcan, epinephrine, and albuterol, and anybody can take the class. I’m really glad that Maricopa County is partnering with the schools, and there’s a lot of times when the kids really need this stuff and the parents aren’t around. They’re at work,” she said.
Public health nurse Natalia Rocha said the program also provides the medications and training that allowed a trained school responder to administer epinephrine during a severe allergic reaction on a playground and then follow protocol to call 911. “The individual who was trained for the to administer the medication was able to grab the epinephrine, administer the medication, and then call 911 per the protocol. So they potentially save some a child’s life,” Rocha said.
Rocha and Muth both emphasized the need to have rescue medications on site to prevent tragic outcomes. Officials noted that training is part of the program and that schools enrolled can acquire the required prescription to store the medications.
Details about which specific schools are enrolled were not provided in the remarks. Officials did not specify funding sources or whether enrollment is mandatory for any school type.
