Got this email from FAAN, thought I’d share. This is your call to action:
From: Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN)
To: <me>
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 3:40 PM
Subject: Ask Your Senator to Support the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act
The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN)
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| Dear Eric,The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN™) has been working with U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) on federal legislation that would encourage states to adopt laws requiring schools to have on hand “stock” epinephrine auto-injectors – meaning epinephrine that is not prescribed specifically to a single student but can be used for any student and staff member in an anaphylactic emergency.
Today this bill (S. 1884), the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act, was introduced in the Senate.
 Sen. Kirk with Brianna and Rhonda Adkins, and FAAN CEO Maria Acebal on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Nov. 15. |
Earlier this week, FAAN CEO Maria L. Acebal, joined by Rhonda Adkins, wife of country music superstar and Celebrity Ambassador Who Cares Trace Adkins, and Adkins’s young daughter Brianna, visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill to urge them to support this lifesaving legislation.
Now we need your help to get your senators’ support! Please download our sample letter of support, personalize it, and send it to their senators.
You can look up your local senators at www.senate.gov.
In addition to protecting those whose epinephrine auto-injector isn’t immediately accessible during a reaction, this legislation will help save the lives of those who experience an anaphylactic reaction and don’t have a prescribed epinephrine auto-injector. Data shows that up to 25% of all epinephrine administrations that occur in the school setting involve students and adult staffers whose allergy was unknown at the time of the event.
Only a handful of states have laws related to stock epinephrine. S. 1884, however, will provide an incentive for states to enact their own laws allowing school personnel to keep and administer a non-student specific epinephrine auto-injector in case of an emergency. (The state laws would be similar to the ones enacted in Illinois and Georgia in 2011.)
Thank you for your help gathering support for S. 1884. We will keep you posted as FAAN continues to work to secure passage of this important legislation. Together, we can save the lives of those with potentially life-threatening food allergies.
Sincerely,
The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network
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FAAN (The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network)
   
11781 Lee Jackson Highway, Suite 160 | Fairfax, VA 22033-3309
(800) 929-4040 | faan
© Copyright 2011
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Here’s that sample letter:
MODEL Letter of Support for the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act
Note: Please paraphrase. It is important that Senators do not receive duplicates of the same letter from different individuals. You can look up your local senators at www.senate.gov.
The Honorable (insert Senator’s name)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator (insert name):
I am writing to ask you to co-sponsor S. 1884, the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act, introduced by Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk. I am the parent of a child with severe food allergies. (Personalize here by inserting a brief description of your child’s allergies.)
Children with food allergies are at risk for anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death. To prevent death, anaphylaxis must be treated promptly with an injection of epinephrine. The Durbin-Kirk bill would encourage states to ensure that epinephrine is available in schools and that school personnel are trained to administer it in an emergency. Epinephrine is safe and easy to administer. Children are able to self-administer the medication, and any adult working in a school would be capable of learning how to administer epinephrine in a matter of minutes.
Nearly 6 million American children have potentially life-threatening food allergies. Schools need to be prepared to treat allergic reactions in the event a student’s personal epinephrine auto-injector isn’t available or the student is having a reaction for the first time.
The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act is not a controversial bill. It is endorsed by the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Association of School Nurses. On average it will cost a school just over $100 to have epinephrine available to prevent a fatality from anaphylaxis. This is a small price to pay to save the life of a child.
I hope you will co-sponsor the Durbin-Kirk bill and work to assure passage of this legislation. Thank you for considering my views.
Sincerely,
Now, get to work!
World (and Lunar) Domination 