State Sen. Chuck Huf­stetler said he has received thanks from school nurses in Georgia for his part in a bill that would ease restrictions placed on the use of so-called EpiPens in public and private schools.

Senate Bill 195 would allow schools to stock a supply of auto-injectable epinephrine that could be prescribed by a practitioner to the school itself.

This would eliminate the possibility of a student going into anaphylactic shock and not being able to receive epinephrine if they do not have a prescribed device at the school.

Hufstetler, R-Rome, is a freshman lawmaker. SB 195 was his first piece of legislation to be presented as a senator. It was passed in the Senate on Monday by a vote of 50-1 and was sent to the House where it will next be reviewed by the Education Committee.

The bill will also allow a school employee to provide or administer epinephrine to a student that the employee believes in good faith is experiencing an anaphylactic adverse reaction.

Fellers said they have trained school staff in the past on how to use the auto-injectors and when to use them. It’s having a supply of them and being able to use them on any student in need that makes that training more important than before.

Hufstetler said one of the school nurses who reached out to him, in the past, had administered epinephrine to a student who didn’t have a prescription for it and was nearly fired because of it.

The bill received support from the Food Allergy Kids of Atlanta, an advocacy group that tries to raise awareness on the importance of food-allergy prevention and the seriousness of food-allergy reactions.

Read more: RN-T.com – Ga bill gets support from school nurses