City daycares and preschools are now required to call 911 in the event of a medical emergency. It’s a new policy that went into effect Monday, about a week after a 3-year-old boy died when he suffered an allergic reaction at a Harlem preschool.

Elijah Silvera was severely allergic to dairy. He went into anaphylactic shock after being given a grilled cheese sandwich at the Seventh Avenue Center for Family Services. The preschool staff called his mother, who rushed him to Harlem Hospital. He died at the hospital.

The new policy requires child care centers to call 911 directly instead of waiting for the child’s parents.

City officials have closed the Seventh Avenue Center, saying it failed to follow its own written safety plan. But officials have not responded to questions about what protocols the center was required to follow previously.  

The Silvera family has said the preschool had been notified about Elijah’s allergy. In a statement, they called the death “completely preventable” and promised to bring awareness to the issue.

“While we can no longer protect Elijah, hold him in our arms or kiss his sweet little face, we can still fight for kids like him,” the family said in a statement. “And that’s exactly what we intend to do.”

The Silveras said it’s unclear whether the responsibility for Elijah’s death falls on the preschool or the hospital and they plan to get an independent autopsy if they can raise the funds.

After Elijah's death, the Administration for Children’s Services sent a letter to all child care centers under its domain, reminding them that every child with a food allergy should have an individual written care plan with details on prevention and treatment.

The guidelines don’t specify what that treatment should be for individual children. But one Bronx mom, Camden McDaris Black, has started a petition to get EpiPens into every daycare and school in the city. McDaris Black has a 7-year-old son with a peanut allergy. The news of Elijah’s death sent her reeling.

“All these thoughts came running through my head,” she said. “There were so many things that could have been done even after the child ingested the food that he was allergic to that might have prevented the horrible outcome.”

The Department of Education says preschool parents can provide EpiPens and schools in higher grades with nurses have access to them.