Tot tragedy spurs ACS to tighten rules

CITY CHILD CARE centers are being ordered to call 911 when a tot has a medical emergency, after a 3-year-old boy died when he suffered an allergic reaction at a Harlem preschool.

“We are doing all we can to make sure nothing like this ever happens again,” Administration for Children’s Services Commissioner David Hansell said Monday at the Bloomingdale Family Program on the Upper West Side.

“The city is issuing a new requirement that all EarlyLearn and pre-K providers must call 911 when a child has a medical emergency.”

Little Elijah Silvera, who was allergic to dairy, died Nov. 3 after eating a grilled cheese sandwich at the Seventh Avenue Center for Family Services in Harlem. His family said staffers at the center knew about his severe allergy.

The Health Department has shut down the pre-K center, which officials said failed to follow a safety plan.

“It will not be opened again until it’s safe,” Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said Monday. “This was just impossibly tragic. Unthinkably tragic.”