Mom back to plead for nurses in schools

PROVO — The Tooele mom who last year garnered national media attention for her school nurse petition after her daughter accidentally overdosed on asthma medication is back — with a following — for Round 2 on Capitol Hill.

Paula Tuck on Friday addressed the Utah School Nurses Association, where a local filmmaker unveiled a public awareness video aimed to gaining momentum for her cause.

"I really want a nurse in every school ... and I am going to do whatever it takes to get that accomplished, for however long it takes," Tuck said. "Our kids don't have adequate care when they walk out the door and they go to school, and it's not the teacher's responsibility to have to play nurse."

Utah has 129 school nurses and more than a half million students. It should have about five times as many; the national recommendation is one nurse for every 750 students.

Utah school nurses, who offer immunizations, health screenings, education, triage and medical help, often work several schools at a time.

"We can't be effective" that way, said Kim Lowe, nurses association vice president, who works at eight Alpine District schools.

The three-minute video hammers home what happens under such conditions.

In fall 2005, Tuck's daughter Michaela accidentally overdosed on asthma medication during an asthma attack at her Tooele elementary school. The girl was left in the hall alone until her mom arrived, but by then, the child was convulsing, according to the video. Michaela suffered seizures, rapid heart rate and speeded metabolism, and has been hospitalized three times since the incident, missing six weeks of school, Tuck said.

Lowe says medical emergencies like these are common in Utah schools. "It is going on everywhere. Every day in the state of Utah, 911 is called at least once (from schools)."

Tuck believes the overdose never would have happened if the nurse were on hand. She said the family is preparing a negligence lawsuit against the Tooele School District.

One nurse in the video questions whether a child must die to make the Legislature act.

Meanwhile, Tuck continues her petition calling for a nurse in each of Utah's 900-plus schools, which, in the past year, has garnered more than 5,500 signatures.