A Canadian charity is launching a bold new initiative to bolster the safety of an estimated 200,000 schoolchildren who suffer from potentially life-threatening conditions such as asthma, diabetes and peanut allergies.
The children will be provided with a free MedicAlert bracelet, engraved with key medical information and backed up with access to a detailed electronic medical record and contact information through a 24-hour-a-day hotline.
"Children, even more so than adults, have difficulty communicating in a crisis," Martin Kabat, president and CEO of the Canadian MedicAlert Foundation, said in an interview. "The MedicAlert bracelet speaks for them. It features all the information that an emergency responder needs to save a child's life, or to prevent further harm."
The silver bracelets are an iconic symbol, already used by one million Canadians. The service costs up to $95, with a $49 annual renewal fee.
But the new program, dubbed No Child Without, will provide the bracelets at no cost to all eligible children age 4 to 14. Details are to be unveiled today at a news conference at Duke of Connaught Public School in Toronto.
"I would recommend it to all parents who have a child with a medical condition. It's a lifesaver," said Katherine Ferlanti, whose five-year-old Laura suffers from severe nut allergies.
The young girl almost died when she was mistakenly given a chocolate chip that contained traces of peanut. "Laura was suffering anaphylaxis, she was having a seizure, and the hotline talked me through it until the ambulance arrived," Ms. Ferlanti said.
The mother of five said she feels a lot more confident about her daughter's safety at school knowing that she wears a MedicAlert bracelet and that staff at school have been trained to deal with medical emergencies.
In addition to providing bracelets, the No Child Without program does education work in schools. Ontario also has legislation, called Sabrina's Law, that requires all school personnel to be trained to deal with severe allergies and children who suffer anaphylaxis.
Bruce Minnes, associate director of the division of pediatric emergency medicine at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, said MedicAlert bracelets make the work of paramedics, nurses and doctors a lot easier because they provide crucial information when time is of the essence.
"Unfortunately, they are few and far between," he said.
Dr. Minnes said the No Child Without program is a welcome initiative because children today are so mobile. "Kids today spend the bulk of their time away from their parents, and you can't always find the information you need in an emergency," he said.
The bracelets feature a wide variety of information, identifying chronic conditions such as autism and sickle cell anemia, serious medical issues such as cancer or heart disease, as well as allergies, including vital information about sensitivity to medications.
Sara Shannon, whose 13-year-old daughter Sabrina died of a severe allergic reaction after eating in the school cafeteria in 2003, said she is also a strong supporter of the new initiative.
She noted that Sabrina had a MedicAlert bracelet but was not wearing it the day of her death. "You wonder if that one little thing could have made a difference, if maybe she would be alive today," Ms. Shannon said.
She stressed, however, that distributing MedicAlert bracelets to children with life-threatening conditions is not enough. She said children need to be educated, school personnel need to be trained to use epinephrine auto-injectors (medication used to treat anaphylaxis) and rules need to be put in place to protect children from exposure to foods that pose a risk.
In other words, Ms. Shannon said, every province should enact Sabrina's Law.
"What are they waiting for?" she asked. "Do we need other laws named after other children who die at school? I don't think so. One death is enough."
The No Child Without program is in place in 60 schools in five provinces -- Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia -- where the idea was tested in pilot project. Another 400 schools, which heard about the program by word-of-mouth, have also asked for bracelets.
Now the plan is to implement the No Child Without program in all 10,000 elementary and junior high schools across Canada.
Mr. Kabat said there is no fixed timetable for getting MedicAlert bracelets to all eligible children, but the foundation will try to move swiftly. "We're going to do this as quickly as possible. We're just looking for sponsors," he said.
The Canadian MedicAlert Foundation is a registered charity that has been operating in Canada for 45 years.
André Picard