RELATING TO STUDENT HEALTH.
HB903 would expand school-based emergency health care in Hawaii public schools by allowing schools to keep a stock supply of bronchodilators, such as albuterol, for use during actual or perceived asthma episodes. It also broadens the authority of trained, volunteer school employees and agents to administer or assist with a wider range of medications and monitoring tasks in emergencies, including epinephrine, glucagon, seizure rescue medication, inhalers, insulin, and blood glucose checks. The bill sets out detailed conditions for parent authorization, medical orders, training, storage, follow-up, and school-year renewal of permissions.
The measure also revises student self-administration rules so students with asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes, or other potentially life-threatening illnesses may self-administer medication and carry needed devices, subject to safety limits. In addition, it updates pharmacy labeling rules so prescriptions for school stock bronchodilators can identify the school or institution as the patient and include the school’s name and address where applicable. The bill is structured as amendments to Chapter 302A and Chapter 328 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, with liability protections for schools, staff, trainers, prescribers, and pharmacists acting within the bill’s requirements.
HB903 would amend Hawaii law to create a new statutory framework for stock bronchodilators in schools and to expand existing school medication-administration provisions. It would add new sections to Chapter 302A governing school-maintained bronchodilator supplies, training protocols, parent notification, and emergency use, while also revising section 302A-1164 to update self-administration and volunteer assistance rules for students with asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes, and seizure disorders. The bill further amends section 328-16 to accommodate prescriptions written for a school or institution, which would support dispensing and labeling of school stock bronchodilators. It also provides civil and criminal immunity, except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct, for persons complying with the act.
The available legislative history suggests generally favorable treatment of the bill. There are no recorded no votes in the committee action provided, and the report was adopted with no members voting aye with reservations. The absence of committee transcript opposition or recorded dissent indicates the measure moved forward without visible controversy at that stage. The bill’s subject matter—school asthma response and emergency medication access—appears to have been treated as a student health and safety measure.
The main policy issues embedded in the bill are the scope of who may administer medication, the level of training required, and the liability protections for schools and volunteers. The bill allows non-medical school personnel to administer emergency medications only if they volunteer and complete prescribed training, which may raise concerns about delegation of medical tasks and implementation burden. It also requires parent authorization and medical orders for student-specific medications, while creating a separate stock bronchodilator system for perceived asthma emergencies, which could prompt questions about overuse, diagnosis, and emergency protocols. Another possible point of concern is the broad immunity and indemnification language, although no specific opposition is reflected in the available discussion or vote history.