Anaphylaxis and the epi-pen
Posted by schoolspirit on 19 February, 2008
I’ve got a kid in the grade this year who brings an epi-pen to school with him in case of an anaphylactic shock. In fact, there are four kids in the school with such causes for concern. Each has their own epi-pen close by when they are here, and each has their own specific influence that sets off their reaction. For many it’s peanuts or nut products, bee stings, certain medications, eggs and regular cow’s milk. Any exposure to their allergen sets off the allergic reaction and that’s when things get serious.
Fortunately, we had the chance today to be trained once more (for many of us) in the understanding of anaphylaxis (this severe reaction to the above triggers), and the administration of the epi-pen (the small, single-dose medication device that delivers a shot of adrenalin into the child’s bloodstream to counter the reaction). I remember going through the training about three years ago, so I found much of it just a refresher course.
Meaning that much of what I knew but had forgotten I knew was brought back to the front of my mind again. I was pretty certain I knew how to administer the epi-pen and the process with which to handle any such anaphylactic emergency, but at the same time, I’d only done it in a training situation with practice epi-pens, eh? Those little ones you can practice on yourself which have no dosage inside them and, importantly, no little sharp needle to accidentally stab yourself with. It would be a whole new kettle of fish to actually be in the situation where you need to use it in a real situation.
Fortunately we have yet to have such an incident, and while I’m sure we’d handle it properly, you never really know until you’re facing it, eh? Even after today’s session, I know I’d rather not have to face such an emergency myself while wandering outside on yard duty.
All fears and concerns aside though, I think it’s probably the most important professional development session I’ll sit through for the entire year. Hopefully I won’t need to put it into practice, but, in case I do, it’s nice to have that little bit of confidence that you might just help the kid through something potentially fatal and have him home safe and sound that night because you spent two hours after school one evening all those months ago.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
My kids’ school became “nut free” last year. Peanut allergy is certainly an increasing trend. I asked a dietician why once. She said it’s because our environments have become increasingly sterile (through the use of antiseptics and better food preparation etc) that some systems detect the presence of peanuts as a foreign body.
Has your school become “peanut free”?
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Nup. I don’t really think a blanket ban of peanuts would really help all that much anyway. The kids with the condition are well aware of what they can and can’t eat, unless very young when, at the early stages, they’re monitored by just about anyone around within line of sight. There’s no nut ban here. The kids just don’t share food they aren’t certain about.
We had a few kids with the same reaction to eggs and things like that a few years back. They went on camp and everything and just brought their own food along while everyone else ate normally.
As for keeping kids in cotton wool… that’s a post that’ll have to wait for another day, eh?