It was the first day back to school on Monday for Ammaria Johnson, a first grade student at Hopkins Elementary school. Ammaria went to school that morning and never came back.

Emergency crews were called on Monday around 2:30 pm and when they arrived, 7 year-old Ammaria was in cardiac arrest. She was pronounced dead at the local medical center. The police reported that she suffered an allergic reaction to a peanut product. The school is looking into how she got access to the product.

I’m so heart-broken for this family. I just cannot imagine what this child’s last moments were like. She died without her mom or her dad by her side– likely during an ambulance ride. I hope that her teacher or the nurse rode in the ambulance with her.

I wonder what the other food allergic children and their families in this district must be thinking and feeling. It must be terrifying to have to attend school and know that this can happen. On some level, I realize most of our kids realize this but to have such a horrific example, must be traumatic for them.

How can this still be happening?

My friend Sara Shannon lost her daughter Sabrina Shannon to anaphylaxis on September 30, 2003. Sara advocated for “Sabrina’s Law” to protect allergic children in Ontario. Sara said: “People don’t get it, and they have to get it.”

But they still don’t.

Eight percent of US children have at least one food allergy. That’s one out of every 13 children. A third of these children have multiple food allergies and 39% have experienced a life-threatening reaction.

We don’t know the details of this recent tragedy, but we do know that most reactions at school happen in the classroom, with activities outside the norm and that cookies and candies are high risk food groups for anaphylactic reactions.

What can be done?

Get the food out of the classroom. The classroom is for learning. The cafeteria is for eating.

Next, the risk factors for fatal anaphylaxis are:
1) peanut or nut allergy
2) asthma
3) delay in administering epinephrine

We can’t do anything about the first two, but we can make sure that EpiPens are immediately accessible (which means unlocked) and that caregivers are trained to administer them.

Studies show that when caregivers are trained in avoiding, recognizing and treating allergic reactions, the frequency and severity of reactions decreases.

When we’re unprepared, it does not just affect one family. It affects a community.

What was it like for Ammaria’s teacher driving home last night? What was it like for her classmates as they tried to go to sleep? What was it like for her best friend? Her siblings?

Please make sure you’re child has a food allergy action plan (or other written plan), that EpiPens are immediately available and that caregivers are trained to use them.