Teenager In Trouble In Inhaler Incident (Gives inhaler to asthma sufferer; gets expelled)

KPRC-TV/DT Houston ^ | 10.8.03

[mhking]

A teenager was disciplined for sharing medication used to treat asthma, but he said it saved his girlfriend's life, News2Houston reported Wednesday.

Andra Ferguson and her boyfriend, Brandon Kivi, both 15, use the same type of asthma medicine, Albuterol Inhalation Aerosol.

Ferguson said she forgot to bring her medication to their school, Caney Creek High School, on Sept. 24. When she had trouble breathing, she went to the nurse's office.

Out of concern, Kivi let her use his inhaler.

"I was trying to save her life. I didn't want her to die on me right there because the nurse's office (doesn't) have breathing machines," Kivi said.

"It made a big difference. It did save my life. It was a Good Samaritan act," Ferguson said.

But the school nurse said it was a violation of the district's no-tolerance drug policy, and reported Kivi to the campus police.

The next day, he was arrested and accused of delivering a dangerous drug. Kivi was also suspended from school for three days. He could face expulsion and sent to juvenile detention on juvenile drug charges.

The mothers of both teenagers are angry.

"My son will not go to jail. This is ridiculous," said Theresa Hock, Kivi's mother. "I believe he shouldn't be punished at all because he was helping her. She was in distress."

"If he hadn't helped her, she would have passed out or died or something because her asthma's been really bad this year," said Sandra Ferguson, Andra's mother.

The school principal said he couldn't do anything about it since Kivi not only broke school rules, but also allegedly violated state law.

"It's simply a matter that it's classified as a dangerous drug. It's an inhaler form, but yet, if it had been in pill form or any other, it's still classified as a dangerous drug," said Greg Poole, the Caney Creek principal.

"Would Caney Creek had want Andra to have died rather than my son to help her?" Hock said.

Poole said the nurse never considered Andra to be in a life-threatening situation.

The school district will hold a hearing on the matter Friday.

[dennisw]

In so many words you are saying the EMS people should have known enough, been educated enough, to inject him instead of taking him to the edge of death.

[erikm88]

Pretty much... I'm sure EMT classes today would cover anaphylactic situations... If they can administer lidocaine to jump start someone's heart, I can't see why they can't administer epinephrine or adrenaline to someone who's airway is closing in on them.

--erik

[ArmstedFragg]

The security guard/health officer got there took one look at me put an oxygen mask on me and told the dispatcher to call EMS

You're luckier than you know.... feeding 02 to somebody in the middle of a severe attack can produce grossly negative results.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Sounds like Nurse Ratchit to me. SHE ought to be the one in trouble here, NOT the student!!!!!!!!!!!

[lonevoice]

Good job! FReep these morons.

[des]

A nurse turning in a rules violation to school authorities seems appropriate...the handling of that information was beyond stupid.

[cherry]

yes, an asthma attack can kill.....and it can kill young people just as easily as older folks...

whatever happened to common sense, and "discretion"...

In this case , I wish the entire school body should just take a walk out of school in support of this young man.....

I know that people that work in schools are supposed to be educated, but my experience is that is far from true, and some of the most foolish and silly and unprepared people work there....just my opinion....

[cherry]

I'm a nurse and my attitude is that the patient in all circumstances, knows what he or she feels....

even with people that are hypocondriacs, they still feel all of their pain.....

with asthma patients, they seem to sense an attack coming on even before major symptoms.

[First Amendment]

Considering that the liberal leftist wackos also think the population of dear planet earth is way too huge, maybe there's a method in their madness....

And I say this as an asthma sufferer. I feel for the girl, and lucky she has a standup friend who wanted to see her live more than he wanted the school authorities to like him.

[quietolong]

Maybe this would be better!

Students' online teacher rating is a mixed bag
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/973277/posts

[wideminded]

Of course I agree that the administrators of this school are imbeciles, but nevertheless I think that albuterol can possibly be dangerous if misused. I once accompanied a close friend of my back to her house where we found that her young dog had been occupying himself by chewing on her asthma inhaler which was now punctured. Some time later I noticed that the dog seemed ill and I felt his heart. The dog's pulse was over 200 and stayed that way for many hours. We took him to the vet hospital for observation.

[kenth]

Not much of a nurse to think jackbooting around to the school rules was more important than alleviating the poor girl's attack.

Sounds like they also have a no-tolerance policy for intelligence and morals. To have admonished the kid for breaking school policy would have been bad enough, but she actually turned him into the police as if he'd shot the girl up with heroin or something.

The poster above was spot on in observing that if it were a pregnancy, all manner of aid would have been offered to help her kill the baby. This is just insane.

[RogueIsland]

"Would Caney Creek had want Andra to have died rather than my son to help her?" Hock said.

Back in line, prole. How dare you question the wisdom of the State?

Just when I think I've read the most outrageous zero-tolerance nonsense, somehting like this pops up to top it.

[Born Conservative]

nevertheless I think that albuterol can possibly be dangerous if misused

Without getting into a lot of pharmacology, Albuterol has a wide therapeutic index (The ratio between the toxic dose and the therapeutic dose of a drug), meaning that it would take a lot of Albuterol to cause an overdose. I think the important thing here is not that he broke the rules and (technically) the law, but that he saved her from possible death; I think he acted responsibly. I've seen kids die from asthma (when I worked in the hospital); it can happen. As for the dog, since the dog doesn't weigh as much as a human, and thus would need less of a dose, it's not surprising that it had those problems after ingesting a container of Albuterol (increased pulse and tremors are common side effects).

[Rubber_Duckie_27]

This is zero tolerance baloney. I'm in my early twenties and still remember when asthmatic kids in elementary school kept their inhalers with them - the assumption being that if a young child is prescribed a rescue inhaler, it's for a good reason. Now they keep them up in the nurse's office, a lot of good that will do when a kid is having an attack.

It's tough to cause damage to someone with albuterol. I developed asthma in my late teens and quickly discovered that I am sensitive to albuterol, meaning it tends to make my heart beat very quickly for a short time when I take it. I have other medications I can take when I'm really sick that do the job without causing the racing heart. If it comes down to a choice of not breathing or having my heart beat fast for a while, the breathing wins hands down. I carry an albuterol inhaler with me everywhere - and friends and family know this in case I am unable to communicate that fact.

[bk1000]

"Zero tolerance is a Nazi policy"

I don't know if it is that, so much as a vehicle for abdicating responsibility. Either way, it is ridiculous.

[Sloth]

A nurse turning in a rules violation to school authorities seems appropriate...

Why?

[eboyer]

Not only is the rule ridiculous but they can't even apply it uniformly.

Both parties were in violation of this moronic zero tolerance policy but the reports only show the boy being punished.

[GovernmentShrinker]

In what states(s) are school nurses authorized to take students across state lines for abortion or any other purpose? And please cite sources.

[freekitty]

That's pretty much it.