Back in September, we brought you the tragic story of Cameron Espinosa. Espinosa, a thirteen-year-old youth football player from Corpus Christi, Texas died after suffering a severe allergic reaction to bites from fire ants that were present on his team's football field.
In the comments section of that story, readers wondered how such a sad incident could have been prevented. Espinosa's mother even said something as simple as an EpiPen could have saved her son's life.
The Corpus Christi Independent School District has responded by taking action. According to Kiii News, the Corpus Christi ISD will spend nearly $100,000 to implement new procedures following Espinosa's death.
The district will move all middle school games to local stadiums or high school fields, away from the middle school field that was covered with ants where Espinosa was attacked. Money will also go toward transportation, EMT coverage, game workers, police and custodial staff.
But perhaps the biggest change (and one of the biggest expenses) is the district's decision to stock all 59 schools in the district with epinephrine injector pens, or EpiPens. That could cost as much as $17,000.
"There are only four districts in the state of Texas that have undesignated EpiPens, so it is a fairly new practice," CCISD director of communications Lorette Williams told Kiii News. "We are going to spend a lot of time researching it, making sure that our policy and procedures are correct. Making sure that those that need to be trained are trained. And we will be spending much of spring and summer getting all of those items lined up so when it comes to the new school year, we will be prepared."
