House bill would mandate emergency supplies for kids on planes

Lawmakers unveiled legislation in the House Wednesday to require airlines to update their medical emergency kits to better protect kids in-flight.

Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) introduced the Airplane Kits Act. The bill will require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue a rule within one year that requires airlines to update their in-flight emergency medical supplies for children.

Maloney said the kits on airplanes now lack EpiPens to treat a severe allergic reaction, and child-size ventilation and CPR equipment.

“When you’re 30,000 feet in the air it becomes a very dangerous situation very quickly if you don’t have the proper medication to treat a child having an allergy attack,” he said.

Dr. Brian R. Moore, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, said the airplane kits also lack child-size doses of medication, including pain relievers like Tylenol.

If a child is hypoglycemic, meaning they have low blood sugar and need insulin, he said there’s no pediatric guide in the kit to determine how much to give them. And though there are pain relievers for an adult, there is nothing for a child.

“You can’t have a two-year-old swallow a Tylenol pill,” he said.

Hanna said it will be up to FAA to determine which medications and equipment should be included in the updated kits.