A local doctor who said she nearly died when she suffered an allergic reaction on a flight is now calling on the FAA to require EpiPens on airplanes.
Dr. Lindsey Ulin spoke with 7NEWS this week, saying she believes having an EpiPen on board could be a matter of life and death.
“If you have a known allergy like this, or have ever been prescribed an EpiPen, you need to make sure to have it with you at all times,” Ulin said.
Ulin was on a recent family trip, flying from Arizona to Texas, when she became ill.
The situation started as nausea, Ulin said. Then, she developed hives and began having difficulty breathing.
Realizing she was having an allergic reaction, Ulin called a flight attendant for an EpiPen but was told the airline doesn’t carry them.
“As a physician, I had no idea that airlines don’t carry EpiPens in the emergency kits,” Ulin said. “And I’m hearing from many others on social media that they didn’t know either.”
The airline is only required to carry glass vials of the medication in an EpiPen, which is used in response to certain allergic reactions.
“Here I am, having to hit it against a tray table trying to break it open to give it to myself when I can barely breathe, my heart is racing and I’m close to dying,” Ulin said.
Ulin said she wants the FAA to require EpiPens be carried in airplane emergency kits.
“Many physicians, other health care providers, medical advocacy groups [and] other passengers this has happened to have been calling for this for years,” Ulin said. “But yet the FAA still doesn’t require it, and so people are still at risk of this happening to them and dying every time they fly.”
Ulin said she has no idea what sparked her allergic reaction on her flight and has never had a problem before.
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