We Must Act NOW to Save Lives
Mission
The Training Epinephrine Administrators in Medication (TEAM) Association was formed in response to the urgent, currently unmet need for the American public to have available to them more opportunities and locations throughout their communities to receive epinephrine auto-injector training so they can administer an epinephrine auto-injector in the event, they, a member of their family, a friend or an individual in the community suffers a life-threatening anaphylactic attack.
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The TEAM Association is working with the U.S. Congress to enact federal legislation into federal law to achieve this goal of expanding epinephrine auto-injector training which will save lives, especially children and teenagers’ lives.
In recent years, a number of states have shown leadership in expanding epinephrine training opportunities for the public through enacting laws within their respective states. For example, in 2017, Wisconsin enacted a law expanding epinephrine auto-injector training to individuals to administer epinephrine auto-injectors in the event an individual suffers a life-threatening anaphylactic attack. This law has saved lives. In 2019, Governor Ned Lamont (D-CT) signed into law Public Act No. 19-19 which also expanded the opportunity for the public to become trained in administering epinephrine autoinjectors.
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While these and other laws may encompass more than the TEAM Association's singular mission, namely, to educate the public and expand the opportunity for the public to receive training in administering epinephrine auto-injectors which will save lives. The state laws serve as a precedent in demonstrating the need and urgency for enactment of federal legislation into law to save lives.
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As the TEAM Association works with U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, and their staff to introduce and enact a law expanding the opportunity for the public to become trained to administer an epinephrine autoinjector, we invite you, the public, First Responders, health professionals and fellow advocates to join in support of our missionary goal which is growing into the largest legacy public health safety initiative in years if not decades!
Urgency
The urgency for this long-overdue effort to enact a federal law to expand epinephrine training is evidenced in recently publicized anaphylactic deaths and the rise in the prevalence of food allergies among the public. The frequency of hospital admissions for anaphylaxis has increased 500-700% in the last 10-15 years (1).
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For example, in December of 2019, in one-week alone in Ohio, 12 year old Michael Polachek and 20 year old Logan Lewis both died from food-ingested anaphylaxis and were not administered epinephrine in time to save their lives. The growing prevalence of food allergies among the public and the clear benefit of the public to become trained in the administration of epinephrine will save lives, particularly children and adolescents’ lives.
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There is growing urgency from the public, organizations, and healthcare professionals who want to be included and recognized in this most needed initiative to enact a federal law expanding epinephrine training without being tied to epinephrine access or cost.
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The TEAM Association's mission is to expand epinephrine training to save lives, particularly children and adolescent's lives, without imposing any mandates upon any entity. No opposition has surfaced from any entity, and none is expected.
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On January 6, 2020, the New Hampshire Union Leader published the article “Many summer camps may not be prepared for kids with allergies” The Training Epinephrine Administrators in Medication (TEAM) Association is harnessing the support of the public, dozens of health and patient advocacy organizations, and working with leading organizations and professional medical experts on how best to enact a federal law that will expand the opportunity for the public to receive hands-on epinephrine training while ensuring Good Samaritan protections which mirror those recently enacted in other states such as Connecticut, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
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Epinephrine training has a myriad of benefits which contribute to saving lives.
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First, as the expansion of automated external defibrillators (AED’s) have become commonplace throughout many public common areas in response to heart attacks and save upwards of 40,000 lives a year according to the National Safety Council (NSC), the public will be less reluctant to administer an epinephrine injection if they become more familiar through this hands-on training.
Second, the ability for the public who wish to receive training will be greatly enhanced through additional locations and communities which will offer epinephrine training that would not, apart from the legislative language which the TEAM Association is working with Congress to introduce (referred to as the “TEAM Act” legislation), otherwise have the incentive to offer the in-person, hands-on epinephrine training.
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Third, First Responders, already strained and over-extended with their responsibilities, are supportive of increased epinephrine training in the public and the First Responder communities would have considerable relief through the expanded opportunities for the public to receive training through enactment of the TEAM Act federal law.
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As the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reports, the prevalence of food allergies in children rose 50% from 1997-2011 and that of peanut or tree nut allergies in children has more than tripled from 1997-2008. The TEAM Act legislation is critically needed to expand epinehrine autoinjector training and will have no federal taxpayer dollars, no trigger requiring the Congressional Budget Office to score it for cost or drug availability related context or related issues.
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Therefore, the TEAM Association's support in Congress is bipartisan and growing stronger by the day. Once introduced, the legislation championed by TEAM Association supporters, especially from you, the public, will have the greatest impact in increasing epinephrine auto-injector training in the U.S. since the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act P.L. 113-48 was enacted into law.
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The value, magnitude, and consequence of the TEAM Act Association’s mission to expand epinephrine training to save lives, particularly children's lives, without imposing any mandates upon any entity has been lauded for its simplicity yet transformative impact in its ability to save lives throughout the U.S. No opposition has surfaced from any entity, and none is expected.
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(1) Epidemiology of anaphylaxis. Tejedor Alonso MA, Moro Moro M, Mugica Garcia MC, Clin Exp Allergy. 45(6):1027-39, Jun 2015