School Nurse Refuses To Give Inhaler To Student Having Asthma Attack

[Killroy]

DELTONA, Fla. - The parents of a senior at Deltona High School are outraged after their 17-year-old son had an asthma attack at school and the school nurse would not let him use his inhaler.
Sue Rudi got a call from her son’s school letting her know that her son was having trouble breathing. When she arrived and was taken back to the nurse’s office, they found her son, Michael Rudi, on the floor.
“As soon as we opened up the door, we saw my son collapsing against the wall on the floor of the nurse’s office while she was standing in the window of the locked door looking down at my son, who was in full-blown asthma attack,” Rudi said.
Michael said his inhaler was confiscated on Friday after the school dean found it in his locker. Even though it was still in its original packaging with his name on it and directions for its use, it was taken away because his mother had not signed the proper form for him to have it.
In order for students to carry their prescribed drugs with them in school, parents must sign a medical release form each year. The school had no such form for Michael to have his inhaler at school.…

This article is from The Dreamin' Demon, the Internet's self-appointed buzzkill.


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[Capitan Obvious]

While I want kick the "nurse" in her cunt for not helping the boy, schools have these rules in place for a reason. The Mother of this child obviously has been aware for sometime that her child has asthma, I have no doubt that she is well aware of the documents she needs to sign each school year... if his asthma is this bad, she should've made sure the form was signed and on file.

[biteme]

While I want kick the "nurse" in her cunt for not helping the boy, schools have these rules in place for a reason. The Mother of this child obviously has been aware for sometime that her child has asthma, I have no doubt that she is well aware of the documents she needs to sign each school year... if his asthma is this bad, she should've made sure the form was signed and on file.

And possibly she didn't know and her son didn't tell her it was confiscated and the school didn't notify her, which I would think was their duty if they found and took any drug prescribed or not

[AngelFire]

Even though I would like to bitch slap the nurse, the parents are to blame here. My 7 year old suffers from asthma and he has an inhaler as well. The school staff are on notice that he is asthmatic. I had to get my son’s pediatrician to complete a medical form that the school provides in order for my child to have his inhaler in school, in the event he has an attack. If he so much as shows a sign of breathing trouble, the teacher gets the nurse and she gives him his medication. The schools have policies in place for the safety of not only the students but also the staff.

Now with all that said and done, I still have an issue with this nurse. I understand the policy, I do, but this kid was collapsing from being unable to breath. What harm would have come had they given him his inhaler? Help the kid, he is obviously in distress.

I don’t know if anyone here has had that type of medical emergency. I had an episode once that had it not been for my husband, I would have died. I was asleep and was having an attack. I woke up not being able to breath very well, and I started to panic. It was the most horrific feeling, the feeling of being a fish out of water. He was supposed to have been at work at that very time but called in sick. Thankful that he was there, otherwise, I know I would have died.

To think this kid was being “watched” yet nothing was done, infuriates me to no end.

[Obsolete]

And possibly she didn't know and her son didn't tell her it was confiscated and the school didn't notify her, which I would think was their duty if they found and took any drug prescribed or not

The school provides parents with that info when they register their child each year. Any parent with a child in public school knows they have to have a signed auth on file for any and all medications. The mother even acknowledged that the school had the info on records for previous years, but not for this year.

Michael Rudi said when he started to pass out from his attack, the nurse locked the door. Bitch!

"I believe that when I closed my eyes I wasn't going to wake up," he said.
The Director of Student Health Services, Cheryl Selesky, said that parents must sign the medical release form each year, which allows students to carry their prescribed drugs with them in school.

This year, the district had no record of his Rudi's signature, said Selesky.

"I mean its common sense if I saw an animal on the street in distress I would probably stop to help, why wouldn't she help a child," Sue Rudi said.
But Rudi is a senior, and his mother said the district has had records of his asthma throughout his years in the school.

She thinks her son could have died because of a technicality.

"How dare you deny my son something that we all take for granted, breath," said Sue Rudi. "Why didn't someone call 911?"

Selesky said the district is looking into whether proper procedures were followed by the school, and while nurses can't give medications without the proper authorization, it is district policy to call 911 when a student cannot breath.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Nur...z/-/index.html

Even though I would like to bitch slap the nurse, the parents are to blame here.

The parents are to blame for not making sure the school had a signed auth on file, but the school is negligent for not calling 911 per their school policy.

“How dare you deny my son something that we all take for granted, breath,” said Sue Rudi. “Why didn’t someone call 911?” A school official said it was policy to call 911 when a student can’t breathe, but didn’t know why no one called during Rudi’s asthma attack.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A Volusia County mother wants her son's school nurse off the job and arrested.

Parent Susan Rudi said other children are in danger if the nurse stays on her post, but according to school officials, the nurse did the right thing.

Lawyer Mark Lippman, who represents George and Cindy Anthony, was hired Thursday to represent Michael Rudi, 17, a Deltona High School senior whose inhaler was taken away Friday after a backpack search.

The nurse, Shamhia Johnson, an LPN, said Rudi's mother did not sign the proper paperwork for him to carry the albuterol inhaler. The teen said the nurse wouldn't give the inhaler to him even when he had an attack.

"If this isn't a clear case of child abuse, (we're) not sure why this nurse is still working for the school board," Lippman said. "My ultimate goal is to make sure this doesn’t happen again."

Lippman said he plans to file a lawsuit against the school, the school board and the nurse for denying the teen his medication and for not calling 911.

"The student was obviously upset because we had taken the medication from him. The nurse felt he was becoming a little bit aggressive, and she felt threatened, so she closed her door. The administrator took the student into his office and kept him there until mom was at the school," said Nancy Wait, spokeswoman of the Volusia County Schools.

"This is absolute disregard for human life. How can you watch a human being suffocated and do nothing?" said Susan Rudi.

"The way it's being portrayed is not how it happened," Wait said. "The student was never in a full-blown asthma attack. The administrator and the school nurse, who is a licensed practical nurse, were both watching the student, and at no time did they determine that an ambulance needed to be called for this student. She followed protocol. It’s not only the schools district's policy to administer medication without the proper paperwork, it's a state law."
[...]

http://www.wesh.com/r/31109650/detail.html

[Obsolete]

A case of a parent blowing a school related incident out of proportion?? You don't say...

[Aena]

I am asthmatic and you can go from having a little bit of wheezing to a full blown attack in no time at all, when you add panic into the equation it is even worse. I am confused here, Selesky said the district is looking into whether proper procedures were followed by the school, and while nurses can't give medications without the proper authorization, it is district policy to call 911 when a student cannot breath. because if the nurse is saying he was never having an attack then what are they looking into? if the mother took him the the ER, if he had an attack he should have gone to the ER, if he didn't have an inhaler, they will know if he was having an attack or not.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

The kid was obviously breathing or he would have been dead before the mom got to the school. They said the nurse and an administrator were watching him and didn't feel the need to call 911. I have a hard time believing they would let a kid lay dying on the floor gasping for breath like a fish out of water and not at least call 911.

If my child had a life-threatening condition, signing the forms and notifying the school of emergency plans would be priority ONE on my "back to school" tasks... even before finding out class lists, time schedules, and all the other rigamarole a new school year involves.

[Aena]

Well the child did have a life-threatening condition, that isn't even being argued by anyone. Asthma can and does kill. We know she didn't fill out the papers because the kid couldn't get the inhaler. My question is, if they are so sure there was no need to call 911, why are they now investigating whether 911 should have been called or not.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

My question is, if they are so sure there was no need to call 911, why are they now investigating whether 911 should have been called or not.

More than likely to satisfy the others in the administration/district that weren't there. Just like any situation, the people that are in the middle of it are not always believed, necessarily truthful, or have the final say. An investigation would satisfy others and justify/implicate those involved. If I brought up an issue to my kids school, I wouldn't want the administration to end their look at it based on just one person's say-so if it was something this important.

[TheLadyDragon]

Seriously what kind of 'nurse' allows a kid to go into respiratory distress because a form isn't signed. Sick.

[Northernspark]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/8573308.stm This kid died, teacher who was responsible carried on teaching. Support staff were scapegoated. Not impressed.

[TheMeaningOfItAll]

Parents are to blame. My oldest has several health issues and one of them can require frequent, immediate bathroom trips. The first thing I do every single year is get a letter from the pediatrician to the nurse and teacher explaining my daughter's medical conditions and emphasizing that she should never be denied the use of a bathroom. If my kiddo had asthma, you'd better believe I'd be on top of that situation. There would be no doubt with anyone regarding my daughter's situation and I'd darn well make sure they had every piece of paperwork they needed to administer her medicine. This is being blown out of proportion by the parents and I find it highly ironic that they have hired the Anthony's attorney...and he's claiming child abuse.