EMTs and Epiniphrine

(Reprinted from Allergy & Asthma Today, Spring 2004)
What can one person's letter about a personal story and idea for change accomplish? Just about anything, as AANMA Outreach Service Coordinator (OSC) Carol Finkelstein recently discovered.

Carol's son, Benjamin, lives with asthma and severe food allergies, that put him at risk for developing anaphylaxis (a severe, even fatal respiratory reaction to an allergen). Treating anaphylaxis requires the use of a prescribed medication known as epinephrine. Carol discovered that in her state, Michigan, laws did not permit Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) to use epinephrine in ambulances or students to self-administer the lifesaving prescription at school.

Knowing these laws put Benjamin and countless others at risk, Carol decided to do whatever she could to help her son (and others) breathe, to keep them safe and above all, to keep them alive.

So, she wrote a simple letter to her state legislator - and received an overwhelming response she hadn't expected.

"To tell you the truth, at first I never imagined that writing a letter to a legislator would result in any action," says Carol.

But she quickly learned the impact one letter can have.

It began a chain reaction of interest, starting with legislative staff members and spreading to medical professionals and alarmed families.

Their efforts paid off. On December 22, 2003, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm signed HB4518, a law to allow EMTs the right to carry and administer epinephrine. A second law, HB5087, which permits students to carry and self-administer auto-injectable epinephrine at school, was recently passed unanimously in the House of Representatives - and now awaits hearings in the Senate.

"I hope that other parents will read about our success in Michigan and channel their own passion and love for kids into letters to their legislators," advises Carol. "If there is one thing I have learned, it's that if legislators don't know the needs of their constituents, they can't introduce the laws we need."

Carol's current success has only inspired her to continue her fight. She is now developing a bill that will allow Michigan campers to self-administer their emergency medication.

Congratulations to Carol Finkelstein and the following people who changed Michigan's law:

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
Representative Paul Gieleghem
Representative Marc Shulman
Gabriel Basso
Michael Facktor, MD
Clyde Flory Jr., MD
Jacob Green and his family
Anne F. Russell, RN, BSN
Georgiana Sanders, MD
Mark Zacks, MD