In a letter to Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, Sliman on Monday presented a list of reform suggestions to be adopted in order to ensure public safety where allergies are involved.Deri passed away last Wednesday after suffering an allergic reaction to dairy at a meat restaurant in Rosh Pina and then being taken to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed for medical attention. Among the suggestions are:
1. In the MDA application, there should be an option to note that the person seeking medical attention requires an Epinephrine shot.
2. Food establishments should have a QR code available for customers to quickly scan and be directed to the MDA application.
3. A national campaign to raise the public's awareness of, and ability to quickly identify an allergic reaction, as well as how to treat it, should be established.
Sliman noted that this death, as well as others, could have been avoided if these three measures had been adopted earlier.
"Most people who suffer from severe food allergies don't feel safe in the public sphere – in fact, some even go out of their way to avoid it," she argued.
"Some feel that their allergy doesn't get treated with the severity and gravity it deserves, simply because the public does not understand it properly."
Since Deri's death, the restaurant has closed pending a police investigation, and there has been a widespread public outcry to heighten allergy awareness.
"If the restaurant staffers were aware of how dangerous a spoonful of dairy ice cream could be for a customer," Sliman said, "they would pay closer attention to what they were buying and serving."
Sliman addressed the behaviors of everyone involved once the allergic reaction had already begun: "No one understood the severity of the situation: Deri drove herself to the hospital."
If the public, including the restaurant staff and the people with Deri, had understood the very real dangers of a severe reaction, "they would have called for emergency medical services" instead of waiting.
On Sunday, Rishon Lezion mayor Raz Kinstlich announced the establishment of Epinephrine injector depositories in all food establishments in the city.
Lastly, Sliman pointed out, even when Deri reached the hospital, no one was fully aware of her medical history to take quick enough action.