++++I thought you readers would like to know about this++++
Dear Senate Appropriations Committee Member,
I urge your NO vote on SB 1051 re: Diastat rectal gel administration by unlicensed personnel in our schools,grades K-12. Please consider the “elephant in the room” before you vote on this bill:
Who does this bill really benefit? Is it really the epileptic patient? (Or is it the School Districts, who seek to relieve themselves of legal liability? And the pharmaceutical company which gets to market more and more of the drug, as it expires every few months?)
The Epilepsy Foundation website recommends doing NOTHING to treat a seizure, save turning the patient to the side and placing something under his head, and perhaps calling 911, as needed, as most last only a few minutes.
And where will Diastat (a type 2 controlled drug which has value on the black market, of course), be secured in the meantime? In a pocket? A drawer? The office? Under lock and key? How long would it take to fetch it?
Diastat directions state it needs to be given within 2-5 minutes of the seizure onset.
After it is found, how long will it take to:
-unhinge the Diastat from it’s double-locks?
(-put on gloves?)
-run to the pt
-pull down the pants of that writhing person, and
-insert it properly
??
Monitoring the pt for up to four hours is also in the directive, on the Diastat website, which also mentions the side effects and dangers of giving it to a pt who is not having a breakthrough seizure. This drug will rapidly cause the person to experience to sleep. Deep sleep.
If the student is having a life-threatening seizure, certainly medical assistance is needed; this drug might help, but someone will still have to carry the patient to a place to recover (and where would that be in the school?)
According to the Diastat website, the drug can also be abused. It is not to be used more than once every 4-5 days. In an emergency, who at the school is aware of the frequency of administration at home or other places?
What price, in terms of psychological harm, will the patient pay for having a thing rudely inserted up the derriere in the middle of the classroom or playground? Isn’t it bad enough that the patient will have soiled himself?
And what if the non-medical personnel, in a hurry and unused to such rectal administration, makes a mistake and inserts it in the female vagina? Read the circular about that result.
The two sides of this bill both argue they care very much about the children.
I realize there is a mighty powerful lobby in support, but I ask you to consider this quote from the American Academy of Pediatrics:
The presence in schools of a full-time licensed registered school nurse is strongly endorsed.13 Registered nurses (RNs) have the knowledge and skills required for the delivery of medication, the clinical knowledge of the student’s health, and the responsibility to protect the health and safety of all students. The use of untrained school staff to administer medications to children with special health care needs creates risks, not only of medical liability for the school and the licensed registered school nurse but also of medication error for the student.14–16 To ensure the health and safety of students, all schools should have a full-time licensed RN who has the knowledge and skills required for the delivery of medication and the assessment of student health.17,18
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;124/4/1244
Thank you for your NO vote on SB 1051. There is a better solution: AB 2454.
Respectfully,
Candace Campbell, MSN-HCSM, RN
Film maker, Author, Nurse educator
925.207.1376
Peripatetic Productions, LLC
Host of The Preemie Post blog & podcasts
www.candycampbell.com
www.CandytheNurse.com
