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I'm Elizabeth Goldenberg founder of Onespot Allergy. I have two sons and my youngest son Jacob has severe food allergies. I've setup this video blog because I want to share tips parent-to-parent about living safely with food allergies.
Because food allergy reactions can be so quick and so intense it’s very important to have emergency procedures in place that had been drilled down and rehearsed to the point that they can be carried out automatically. People lose their heads in an emergency and even the best trained people can have difficulty responding. Training and practice are essential.
I have pulled together three allergy training tools that I find essential and I suggest that when you're leaving your child with someone you never make assumptions that they're trained about how to handle allergies properly. Even people who have received training appreciate a refresher and it’s my policy that whenever I leave my son with somebody I run through the emergency drill.
The first tool I use in my training is this 15-minute video. It talks about the symptoms of an allergic reaction. It reinforces even trace amounts of an allergen can be life threatening and it shows how to use both and EpiPen or Twinject properly.
The next item I use to train people is an EpiPen training pen which comes with a bookmark instruction card. It’s helpful to show people how to use an EpiPen and then give them a chance to try it themselves. Common mistakes made are not using the correct end, jabbing with it so it doesn’t trigger or triggering it properly but removing it too quickly. You need show everyone how to use on properly or else they can’t save your child’s life with it. Every person I train with this pen really seems to appreciate the demonstration and the chance to try it themselves. They seem confident that they’ll be able to act quickly and effectively in the event of an emergency and I feel completely comfortable leaving my son in their care.
The final training tool I use is my emergency protocol and 911 script card. It suggests that emergency drills be run every two months including administering EpiPen. It list the symptoms of an allergic reaction for people to watch for and it gives a 911 script—the exact wordings to use when call 911 including the age of the patient, the time that epinephrine was given. Finally, I have included 8 steps you may wish to follow as part of your emergency protocol.
I use all these three training tools whenever I train someone in charge of my son. I run through the DVD, I bring along the training pen and I read through the emergency protocol and 911 script. I also post the emergency protocol prominently at home because it’s not just other caregivers who can lose their head in the event of emergency parents can too. And being prepared saves lives.
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