Epi pens for restaurants

Hamilton is taking steps to become the first city in Canada to require epi pens in all restaurants. The motion was put forward after a Stoney Creek girl died in March after going into anaphalactic shock. Mia Gordon has more.

The vote took place Monday afternoon and it was passed by members of the Board of Health. By March 2014, there will be an epi pen placed in one Hamilton food establishment to see what concerns or issues there may be, and from there Councillor Lloyd Ferguson, who presented the motion, is hoping all 1,600 food establishments in Hamilton will be required to carry an epi pen, so hopefully no more lives will be lost to allergic reactions.

Maia Santarelli Gallo would have celebrated her 13th birthday Saturday. But she died after she suffered an allergic reaction from eating an ice cream cone, that caused her to go into anaphalactic shock. Someone in Mapleview Mall gave Gallo an epipen, but would the outcome have been different if one was readily available?

Leah Santarelli is Maia’s Mother: “If she wasn’t given the epi pen that day, I know that everything was done to save her life and they are life saving devices.”

After Maia’s death, Councillor Lloyd Ferguson came up with an idea.

“5 4 3 2 1 injection complete you just saved a life.”

He wants all restaurants and food courts in the Hamilton area to have an epi pen on hand in case of an allergic reaction like Maia’s: “People are dying its that simple 2 people per year die from thius we simply have a duty to fix this.”

“Because of the 350% growth in last 10 years, and now 60% of children have this, I think most restaurants are aware of the issue”

Milestones Chef: “If we get a selfish allergy but someone wants a steak we will pan sear it for them because we do cook shrimp on the grill.”

Restaurants we spoke with, like this Milestones in Stoney Creek are already taking steps against allergic reactions by cooking food in a separate area. but when told about the idea of carrying an epi pen, they were all for it.

Mark Heltcher is the Milestones Manager: “I think to set up for success, I would have no issues having an epi pen on site as long as we get proper training on how to use.”

Leah Santarelli on the other hand wasn’t so sure: “I think a lot of it is the restaurants not wanting the liability to have to train their staff for restaurants it should be volunteer basis.”

But no matter what, she wants this motion to become a reality, so that what happened to Maia, doesn’t happen to another child: “Whatever it takes to make it mandatory, it takes.”

An issue is liability but Ferguson says there is a Good Samaritan Act which protects anyone trying to do the right thing from liability.