Oh, she knows how it works. They give you a demonstration one (no needle) for practice, and we go through it with her twice a year or so. We’ve just haven’t emphasized that if it ever happens for real, it’s going to be a huge freaking needle going about 1 cm into her thigh. And it is huge - I used an expired one on an orange just to see what it was like “for real”.
Any adults who are responsible for her get a few practice stabs with the demo as well. It’s not hard - take it out of the tube, pull the cap off, smack the black end into the side of the thigh, count to 10.
I guess my point is that the “training” isn’t as much how to use the pen, as when to use it, and what to do afterwards.
This is very similar to how we have been treating out son’s peanut allergy. His school isn’t peanut free. He sat next to a kid eating a PBJ just last Thursday while I was visiting. I provided a box of snacks just for my son, in case the snack of the day has nuts. So far so good. They have checked with me a couple times, about things they aren’t sure of too.
At his Valentine party on Thursday, I noticed that he got about 5 snacks in his bag that had peanuts in them. I just make sure and sort them all out before he gets anything. And he is pretty good at being very vocal if he even SMELLS peanuts!
If he were only 2 or 3, I would worry a bit more. He is five and has known of his allergy for a couple years now.
*We also provided our own epi pen for the school.
Back to the OP. I would be upset too, if they did say the room was peanut free. That should mean every day! Not, just when we aren’t having a party. Because everyone knows they are having a party of some sort every other week.
This actually isn’t a bad idea. As a sub, if someone started having a severe allergic reaction in my class, I would have no idea what to do. I’d hopefully think to call the nurse, assuming there is a phone in the room and that’s schools extensions are posted somewhere. We don’t get any training in situations like that. Teachers are supposed to leave the list of their students’ medical problems, but most don’t since they don’t want the kids getting a hold of it.
We used expired Epis in class, and practiced on rubber arms. It’s an 18g needle - yes, it’s freaking huge. My instructor triggered one on a piece of cardboard, and the epinephrene went about 12 feet.
An Epi-Pen is not a cure-all. It’s merely a stop-gap until you can get her to the ER. A lot of people think you can pop yourself (or your child) with an Epi-Pen and go about your day. This is not true. If you end up using one, someone still needs to call 911, and you’ll end up visting the ER.
Perhaps I should have been more clear. If you aren’t sure with whom to file the complaint, you can go to the police station. They will make a report and pass it along to the licensing agency. Unless your local police department works much differently than mine.
In the fall I attended a fundraiser for a local family whose daughter died after eating a Subway sandwich that had been cross-contaminated with peanuts. The family was diligent about avoiding nuts and Subway was one of the “peanut free” restaurants that they trusted. However, this Subway was in a mall food court and the workers manned both the Subway booth and the neighboring cookie booth. The worker had picked up a peanut butter cookie and set the tongs on the wax paper that she later wrapped Emily’s sandwich in. This trace amount of peanuts set off an allergic reaction and Emily collapsed and died a few minutes later, just shy of graduating from 8th grade.
While I would totally respect a request not to include nuts in any birthday snacks I sent to school, I would be totally upset if my kid’s daycare tried to ban her from eating nuts - to teh point where I would need a REALLY good reason to keep her in the school.
But then - nut allergies are totally unheard of here - to the best of my knowledge I have never seen / met / talked to anyone here with a nut allergy (not that this really means very much at all mind you)
Got a cite for the outrage? And of course, I’m sure you respect the rights of someone to choose the airline they fly on for any damned reason they wish, including a desire to avoid anaphylactic shock when they’re 30000 feet in the air.
You mean “ban her from eating nuts while she’s actually in daycare” right? Since that’s all a daycare can really do - I’ve never heard of one that tried to control what the kids eat while they’re at home. And if the daycare told you at the time you applied that your kid would be in a nut-free area, you’d make your decision whether or not to use that daycare then, and not try to subvert the rules on your own later, right?
My daughter’s daycare is amazing - at mealtime the kids all have personalized laminated placemats which list in big letters their names and the types of foods they cannot have (milk, soya, wheat, etc). I’ve watched them serving breakfast when dropping her off in the morning (the pushchair storage room is just off the cafeteria) and they do check carefully that the kids are in the right place and getting the right meals.
[Margaret Gildner of St. Louis Park, whose 1-year-old son and 7-year-old niece are allergic to peanuts, said she and others are disheartened by the Feb. 1 policy change.
“There’s no more flights on Northwest for us or any of our family members,” said Gildner, who in November booked a March trip to Florida on Northwest. With the peanut change, she’s cancelled that flight and rebooked on Sun Country, which doesn’t serve peanuts.](http://www.startribune.com/local/north/39532317.html)
Yes exactly right Basically I would really be annoyed if the school told me she wasn’t allowed to have (at school) something that I consider to be a normal, everyday sandwich topping. I’m not talking mountains of potato chips, lakes of fizzy high energy drinks or really unhealthy choices like that. If I pack her a peanut brownie, walnut afghan or similiar why not? These are no worse for her than say, an anzac biscuit or angel cake.
On reflection though - if the school asked me not to for the sake of a particular child’s health I may well comply
Grr, most of the people posting here are not crazy “nuts” asking that peanuts or other nuts be banned from the universe entirely. Folks are only asking that if you say a room is nut free that the room is actually nut free. If your kid has a deadly allergy you should be able to leave them in a school/daycare with some established idea of the risk involved. If the school says the risk is “A” then the risk should be “A” and not “F”.
FTR we never even banned peanut butter even in our own home. Damn I’m 54 and still eat PB&J sandwiches on a regular basis. We just made sure we didn’t put the knife in the PB before we put it in the jam and that we didn’t kiss the kidlet with any traces of PB left on skin, beard or whatever.
Our kid had over the top reactions (last year a couple of docs wanted to write a research paper on her but that’s her story to tell) but we never, ever told others what they could or could not eat.
The kid has traveled all over the world and survived. Take heart parental units of allergy kids. Life is good.
Basically I would really be annoyed if the school told me she wasn’t allowed to have (at school) something that I consider to be a normal, everyday sandwich topping. I’m not talking mountains of potato chips, lakes of fizzy high energy drinks or really unhealthy choices like that. If I pack her a peanut brownie, walnut afghan or similiar why not? These are no worse for her than say, an anzac biscuit or angel cake.