A Utah school district is being criticized for denying a fourth grade student her inhaler when she was suffering from a coughing fit on Monday.

KNXV-TV reports 9-year-old Emma Gonzales was not allowed to use her inhaler at Columbia Elementary in West Jordan, because school staff were not notified of the girl's medical condition.

Gonzales had received the inhaler over the weekend when a prior coughing attack landed her in the emergency room. When the girl experienced another attack on Monday, the teacher sent her to the principal's office where staff confiscated the inhaler.

Gonzales said the coughing persisted until she grew nauseous and vomited on her pants.

The girl's mother, Britney Badger, was frustrated by the school's decision.

"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," said Badger to KSTU.

The school notified the parents of the incident, but still refused to provide the student her inhaler because the proper paperwork had not been filled out. The parents were forced to take the child home until the paperwork was complete.

"All you can do is just feel helpless sometimes especially when the people who are taking care of her say that they're not going to help her if something happens," said the girl's father, Scott Cowan.

Jordan School District Spokeswoman Sandy Riesgraf supported with the staff's decision, as district policy states parents must notify the school if their child is taking medication.

"We have to protect the children. We have to make sure that the medicine that they have brought to school is actually for them," Riesgraf said.

However, she insisted Gonzales was well taken care of. She said, "In cases like this, we don't let the children out of our sight ... and even in situations where perhaps the parents haven't signed off on the medications or we haven't got approval, certainly we wouldn't just let this child sit alone."

Emma's father says he plans to keep his daughter home for the time being.