When a third-grade student at Tellico Plains Elementary school Tennessee developed welts on his neck after being stung by a wasp and had trouble breathing, school nurse Amanda Williams had the necessary dose of epinephrine to counter the allergic reaction, the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reported.

Tennesee is the latest state to enact a law allowing epinephrine in public schools . Williams said the student probably wouldn't have survived without the injection.

"It would have been tragic," she told the Union-Bulletin.

Tennessee is one of the 27 states which allow schools to stock the allergy-fighting drug epinephrine. Fifteen of those states enacted the law this year.

The most common form of the medication is packaged inside a device called an auto injector. The tip of the device is placed firmly against the thigh, which releases a short, spring-activated needle that injects the epinephrine.

While only four of the states require schools to stock the medication, the states that allow epinephrine allow schools to stock it without a prescription for an individual person and provide legal protection for staff members who administer it, the Associate Press reported.

Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy for the Allergy Foundation, Charlotte Collins, told the Union-Bulletin she believes the trend was sparked by last year's death of a Virginia first-grader who had an allergic reaction on a playground after eating a nut.

The first-grader went into cardiac arrest and died at a local hospital. Some medical experts said the little girl's life could have been saved if she was given an epinephrine injection.

"Epinephrine is the first line treatment for these severe reactions," said Dr. Michael Pistiner, a pediatric allergist said. "Studies show that delays in treatment with epinephrine increase risk of death."

After the girl's death, Virginia passed a law requiring all of its schools to stock the medication. Virginia is one of four schools that require the stocking of epinephrine. Maryland, Nebraska and Nevada are the other states that require it.

Bills are also pending in Ohio and Michigan regarding the accessibility of epinephrine to students. Click here to see if your state allows epinephrine to be stocked at your school.