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‘For student’s safety,’ says school who confiscated 9-year-old’s inhaler during coughing fit

A mother and father in Utah say they are furious after her nine-year-old daughter`s inhaler was taken away at school when she needed it most.

Sometimes schools make you wonder who actually needs to learn a lesson.

A young girl in Utah had her inhaler confiscated mid-coughing fit because her school’s administration hadn’t been notified of her prescription.

Emma Gonzales, 9, was prescribed the inhaler over the weekend when a coughing fit forced her to the emergency room, reports Fox 13 Salt Lake City.

When the child returned to school for the first time on Monday, she was struck by another attack.

Gonzales was about to administer a dose from her new puffer when her teacher sent her to the office and administrative staff took it away, according to Fox.

“There could be all sorts of problems if children were just allowed to take any medication and we didn’t have that verification,” district spokeswoman Sandy Riesgraf told Fox News. “Again, this is for the student’s safety.”

Okay, that seems like it kind of makes sense – but wait.

The administration reportedly reached out to the girl’s father by phone who confirmed his daughter had been prescribed the medicine over the weekend, reports KSTU.

That’s when the administration continued to refuse to give the inhaler back to the girl because her parents had yet to fill out the appropriate paperwork.

Emma, meanwhile, coughed herself to the point where she began puking.

The fit ultimately subsided without the help of her puffer, but her parents told KSTU Fox she won’t be going back to school until they get confirmation she’ll be able use her puffer without any problems in the future.

“When a child is puking all over themselves and they can’t breathe, you know you kind of have to take action right then and there,” Emma’s mother told Fox.

Another woman, who identified herself as the parent of another child in the school district, said she was also forced to get a prescription from a doctor simply so her son could take water to gym class, according to the Standard Examiner.

As for Emma, the school’s administration said she was never out of their sight during the spell and they would have dialed 911 immediately if she’d gotten worse.

“We wouldn’t sit back and watch a child suffer and not take any action,” said Riesgraf, according to the Washington Times. “The district’s rule about medication is to keep children safe.”

The school district has been standing by the administration’s actions.