LANSING -- Students in Michigan who pack an insulin shot with their bag lunch could get extra attention at school if a new piece of legislation passes.
The bill would require each school to have at least two people on staff trained to deal with students who have diabetes.
Rep. Paul Condino, D-Southfield, said he was inspired to introduce the legislation when he talked to a constituent who had problems with her child Monique's elementary school. During a two-week period, she had to leave work several times a day to check on Monique's blood sugar because the administration there didn't know how to deal with a diabetic student.
"So here, the only option parents have is to home-school," said Condino, who was diagnosed with diabetes in 2002.
In the Grand Rapids school district, the measure mirrors what is already in place. Each school has a five-member medical emergency response team trained to handle "everything from asthma attacks to cuts and scratches," said Wellerwood Montessori Academy Principal Jerry Bentley.
Rep. Michael Sak, D-Grand Rapids and a co-sponsor of the bill, said that part-time nurses may not be enough in an emergency.
"If they had a nurse there on Monday and a child goes into epileptic shock on Friday, you're saying there's a benefit there?" he said.
The 18 other sponsors include Democratic Reps. Marsha Cheeks, Tupac Hunter, LaMar Lemmons, Jr. and Morris Hood III of Detroit.
Condino emphasized that the bill would not require schools to add to existing staff. Schools could train existing personnel and still conform with the guidelines.
"School nurses would be great, but that's not what I'm asking for," Condino said. "I'm not asking them to hire any new staff."
He added that teachers or administrators could be trained if schools do not already have medical personnel in place.
Some districts can't afford on-call nurses, Condino said, and so they have no method to help students with insulin injections and no ability to spot symptoms of overly high or low blood sugar. He said schools calling parents to take care of a child could put the student at greater health risk since medical attention is delayed.
"What do you do in the instance where the school is not going to act in the interim where it takes the parent to reach the school?" Condino said. "Younger children at elevated blood level can get out of control quickly and they might not even know the signs."
Type one diabetes, sometimes called juvenile-onset diabetes, comes from the body's inability to produce insulin, a hormone that regulates the level of sugar in the blood. Type two diabetes, previously known as adult-onset diabetes, develops when the body doesn't produce enough insulin, or fails to process the insulin properly.
While type two diabetes is more typically found in adults 40 or older, it is increasingly found in children. Researchers believe obesity is a major cause of this increase in type two diabetes.
Condino said he will begin forming work groups of nurses, education leaders and legislators to determine the cost of training and strategies for implementing the measure if passed.
Training would be done before the beginning of each school year for schools with a diabetic student. If a student is diagnosed with diabetes in the middle of the year, schools would be required to train staff as soon as possible.