Protect Allergic Children Today (PACT)
www.m210.org

Contact: Tracy Zeisberger Victoria, BC Phone: 250-544-1744 email: tracy@m210.org

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 30, 2007

Parents Unite to Urge for
Anaphylaxis Law in B.C. Schools

Victoria, B.C. - A group of parents of children with life-threatening food allergies is calling for B.C. Education Minister Shirley Bond to take immediate, legislative action to protect children like theirs in British Columbia's public schools. Parents from across the province have formed a group - Protect Allergic Children Today (PACT) - specifically to press Bond and Premier Gordon Campbell to pass Bill M210, the Anaphylactic Student Protection Act. "This law will support 13,000 kids in B.C. schools who are at risk of anaphylaxis, the potentially lethal form of allergic reaction," explained Caroline Posynick, spokesperson for PACT. Posynick notes the lack of consistent, province-wide standards on preventing and handling anaphylactic emergencies. The NDP education critic David Cubberley introduced Bill M210 as non-partisan legislation on March 28. The proposed law would require every school board to establish an anaphylaxis policy, and for public schools to implement individual anaphylaxis plans with strategies to reduce exposure to allergy triggers. It would also require school staff to have training on using a life-saving epinephrine auto-injector and recognizing the symptoms of anaphylaxis. "This is a law about preventing tragedy," said Posynick, noting that similar legislation exists in Ontario, called Sabrina's Law, adopted after 13-year-old Sabrina Shannon died at school from inadvertently consuming fries that were likely contaminated with a dairy protein, to which she was highly allergic. Sabrina's parents, Sara Shannon and Mike Shannon, will be guests in the British Columbia Legislature on Monday May 7th. Sara will travel from Ontario specifically to show support of this Bill and to tell the Government of B.C. the relevance this law will play in so many lives. There is a groundswell of support building for Bill M210; the Canadian Society of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, individual school PAC's and the regional Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, as well as the Greater Victoria Teachers' Associations are also backing it. A second reading is expected on May 28th.

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