NBC5 Investigates surveyed more than 400 public school districts in the Chicago area, and found that more than a third of those districts, encompassing more than 600 schools, do not keep extra supplies of this potentially life-saving device.
Officials for a few school districts said they feared that this emergency epinephrine would cost too much money. A few other districts mentioned that it was difficult to find a doctor willing to write the required prescription for the injector. Most districts, however, did not provide a reason for why they don’t have an emergency stock of epinephrine.
While epinephrine is effective for a variety of allergies, reactions to food products may be the best known. In Chicago, the push to put the auto-injectors in schools was prompted by the tragic death of a seventh grader six years ago.
Search your local school districts on this interactive map to find out if your school keeps an emergency supply of the life-saving device on hand.
