COUNCIL SPIKES IDEA OF EPIPEN PROGRAM
Councillors decide risks outweigh benefits, but vote to study it more
City facilities will not carry EpiPens to treat emergency cases of anaphylactic shock. Council voted 8-3 Monday against a $2,500, one-year pilot project stocking epinephrine auto-injectors at the Forest Glade Community Centre.
“You have to manage and balance the risk,” Mayor Drew Dilkens said, in arguing against the idea of letting community centre staff, who are often young, be in charge of administering EpiPens.
He felt deciding on the spot whether someone is undergoing a severe allergic reaction or something else — and whether an EpiPen injection made sense — would be too much responsibility for someone with minimal training.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit already said it would not take an active role in a city EpiPens project, though it might be willing to provide some training.
Further, Dilkens wondered about the cost if all city facilities were stocked with EpiPens, which expire after 1.5 years. He said if teens are given the authority to use EpiPens, the fire department would likely ask for the same responsibility, meaning each firefighter would by the collective agreement receive an extra $1,000 a year — a total yearly cost of $240,000.
In February, Coun. Fred Francis asked administration to report on the feasibility of stocking municipal buildings with EpiPens — though no incident prompted his question.
“This is difficult because it has never been done before,” Francis said Monday night.
He said a one-site pilot project would help councillors decide if it makes sense on a larger scale.
Coun. Bill Marra, who supported the pilot project along with Coun. Irek Kusmierczyk, said: “I think the greatest risk is doing nothing at all.”
Coun. Chris Holt reflected most of council when he expressed discomfort with the risk, which was noted in the administration report several times, such as: “There are a number of significant liability risks that are associated with the use of EpiPens at city-owned facilities.”
“I find the report has a very, very cautionary tone to it,” Holt said. “That set up a lot of red flags.”
Council agreed with a motion by Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac to have administration look at the Hamilton model and report back. Hamilton is one of two cities in Ontario that stocks municipal facilities with EpiPens — though it has the help of its local health unit.
Shiva Koushik, a member of the Rotary Club which has been pushing for a local EpiPen program, was disappointed with council’s decision, but still holds out hope councillors will reconsider.
Dr. Paul Bradford, the medical director for local paramedics, said of 36 calls to 911 complaining of allergic reactions in 2016, an EpiPen was applied in 20 cases.
He likes the idea of seeing more EpiPens in the community, but understands the risks.
“It would be great to have EpiPens everywhere,” he said. “The issue is you have to have medical oversight if you’re a city.”