When you were in high school, did you ever visit the school nurse only to be told that they couldn’t give you any medication?
In most public high schools around the country, parents are required to sign medical release forms giving high school nurses and officials permission to give children prescription medication.
While it differs from state to state, school nurses are usually only permitted to give students mild over-the-counter medication until their parents arrive. Sometimes, they aren’t even allowed to go that far.
While it is understandable that schools do not want to be held liable for treating students without parental permission, a case at Deltona High School in Volusia County, Fla., shows how absurd these rules can be.
Michael Rudi, 17, has asthma and was given a prescription for an inhaler to help him in case of an asthma attack.
While searching Michael’s locker in May, school officials confiscated his inhaler because his mother hadn’t signed a release form for him to carry it with him.
The inhaler clearly belonged to Michael, given that it was still in the original packaging with his name and directions for use on it.
Eventually, school officials called Sue Rudi, Michael’s mother, to tell her that her son was having trouble breathing. When Sue arrived at the school, she told WKMG that she found Michael on the floor in the midst of a “full-blown asthma attack.”
Sue Rudi also wondered why the school didn’t call 911 if it was so concerned about giving Michael his medication.
While it’s certainly understandable that school officials do not want to face lawsuits due to improper administration of medication, this case takes the cake for incompetency.
When Michael’s school records clearly indicated a history with asthma throughout his time in the school district, and an inhaler was found in its original packaging with his name on it, there is no excuse for the school nurse not to administer his medication.
According to WebMD, an asthma attack occurs when the lining of the airways in the lungs become “swollen or inflamed and thicker mucus – more than normal – is produced.” An untreated attack can eventually mean death from suffocation.
If Michael’s mother hadn’t been able to get to the school in time, he could have died because of a legal technicality.
In these cases, we encourage school administrators to use common sense. We hope if school policies exist for these situations that nurses are properly informed of them.
If procedures do not exist for these emergency situations, it is imperative that they are adopted. There is no reason that children have to suffer or die while under the care of school officials because of a pure lack of common sense.
