Thursday, July 17, 2025
Nassau County police officers could become front-line defenders against severe allergic reactions if legislation proposed by Legislator Seth Koslow becomes law. The bill would require patrol vehicles to be equipped with epinephrine auto-injectors, or EpiPens, and require officers to be trained to administer them in emergencies.
The bill was unveiled at a Dec. 5 news conference in Mineola, where Koslow, a Democrat from Merrick, was joined by local officials and advocates, including Georgina Cornago, whose son, Giovanni Cipriano, died in 2013 of a severe allergic reaction. Legislators Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, Debra Mulè and Scott Davis were also in attendance.
Following her son’s death, Cornago led efforts in 2019 to pass Gio’s Law in New York state. It authorizes certain New York emergency service providers to be trained to treat anaphylaxis and carry EpiPens in their vehicles. The law previously mandated EpiPen training and stocking for first responders in counties with populations of less than 1 million, but it was recently expanded to counties with populations of up to 2 million — which means it can now be implemented in Nassau County.
Suffolk County adopted Gio’s Law in 2023.
“This bill will save lives,” Koslow said at the news conference, “because it will give police officers the ability to provide life-saving treatment in an emergency situation. We trust them when it comes to Narcan. We trust them when it comes to CPR. This is a natural progression, and a natural tool for them to have in their arsenal to provide the resources we expect them to provide on a day-to-day basis.”
Cipriano, who lived in Lawrence, was 14 in 2013, when he went into anaphylactic shock after eating a food he was allergic to. He didn’t have an EpiPen at the time, so his mother drove him to the hospital, which took too long, leading to his death.
Police department ambulances in Nassau County are equipped with EpiPens, but patrol cars aren’t — and by putting them there, the lifesaving care could be more accessible in emergencies.
“This legislation has been nearly 12 years in the making,” Cornago said. “Its importance cannot be overstated. Just as AED machines have become standard in public spaces, it only makes sense to have epinephrine injectors readily available alongside them as another essential lifesaving device.”
If it passes, the bill will direct the Nassau County Police Department to equip all patrol vehicles with EpiPens within 120 days, and ensure that all officers receive the necessary training to administer the medication.
“The training is about 30 minutes long,” Koslow said. “As far as obtaining the EpiPens, it’s just a function of putting the order in and getting them delivered. They’re readily available.”
Koslow explained that food allergies affect 32 million people in the U.S., and over 1,500 people die every year as a result of food allergy reactions.
The legislators are requesting a vote on the bill before the final legislative session of the year, next Monday.
