Epipens - good practice in primaries?

[heliotrope]

We're new to epipens, just been prescribed following a severe brazil nut reaction.
DS school are great about existing milder allergies to milk, egg, fish - no incidents so far anyway, he's in reception.
I'm going to take in the 2 epipens for school with the new anaphylaxis action plan. They already have his antihistamine and asthma inhaler, although never had to use either.
Please would you share your tips / experiences - is it best to keep all this stuff in a box in classroom (currently I think they keep a lot of stuff in office, but then office is nearer dining room). Also what can I expect from the school - likely that staff are trained to use epipens. Any other tips really!
Thanks very much in advance everyone.

clear plastic box with recent photo attached, so that it can be found quickly.

instruction leaflets, and list of allergens, and list of contact details so that whole box can be handed over to hosptial/ambulance staff.

Have a individual health policy filled out, so that EVERYONE is on the same page. for instance:
You will agree to check dates and replace when required.
They will be aware of your childs allergies and impact on the curriculum, cooking, and rules for day trips out side school= epi pens, mobile phone available and staff on trip with epi pen training.

include action plan , e.g the meds are taken to the child is having a reaction, rather than him going to school office, as walking may speed up reaction.
explain and write down exactly what you want to happen should he experience full blown anaphylaxis.

good luck

Make sure it is taken on all school trips. DS needs courage to ask if the teacher has it before they leave.

Keep a note of expiry in your diary, they don't last long.

Thanks so much for taking the time, you are so wise. Had not even thought of expiries or school trips. When can children carry own epipens on trips etc?
Have just realised I need to think of after school club - in an annexe across the playground, as well.

Meant to say in OP - I don't know if staff likely to have any epipen training. It's a big school but somehow I think not. I've seen the Anaphylaxis campaign training, maybe I will suggest it to them.

Get in touch with the school nurse, they should be able to provide epi-pen training to staff. They should also draw up a care management plan for the school that you sign to say you agree to. With regards to where the epi-pens should be kept in depends on the school layout really. Ours is a small site and the office is very near the classroom so it's kept there but if it was a large school then I think I would want it in the classroom and then taken with them to the dining hall at lunch time. I think the general advice is that children only carry their own epi-pens when they are old enough to be able to administer it themselves plus it depends on the school's policy but I would think not before age 11 (ie senior school). I'm surprised your consultant or allergy nurse hasn't given you any advice on this sort of thing. Our allergy nurse contacted the school nurse for us but I guess it all depends on your local health board.

School nurse, another good idea, thanks. We talked to her pre-epipens and she didn't really do anything as was happy with the sheets we'd made ourselves to put up on walls etc. That will be great if she can organise training.
We saw the allergy nurse for the tests and prescription rather than consultant as it was an emergency appt and no availability for consultant before our next routine appt in October. We have an epipen leaftlet and dvd that I haven't watched yet so might be more information in there that I haven't spotted, but they don't seem to contact school nurse directly here.

The First Aiders at the school should be Epi pen trained. Check with the school that they are. A first aider should accompany all school trips and must carry epi pens and be trained.

Someone recommended this www.yellowcross.co.uk/ebuttonz/ebz_product_pages/schoolbag-sb-001.shtml to me recently on here and having just bought 2 they are ideal. They are also cool bag types so great for keeping the epipens at the low temp required.

Babybarrister, I hadn't heard of that before. How sad that the meds were locked in an office. I'll need to check with DD's school for September that this is not likely to happen.

Heliotrope, we have a yellowcross bag like the one okie linked too but without the long strap and it's great. the bright colour is good, esp in DD's nursery where they're not necessarily the most organised so it makes me think the more obvious the container the better.

There are also some free epipen expiry reminder services on the internet which might be worth having in addition to a note to yourself. Also check with the school how often they check the medicines themselves. DD's nursery said they check every trem but actually hadn't done when I checked so I know now to just make sure I know.

Also, the GP will need to prescribe you with a set for school and a set for you as some schools like to know the meds are kept on site. For DD's 'home' set which we take everywhere we use a regular lunchbag type thing which is bright blue with an in the night garden theme. Again, easy to see in the car if we need it.

One last thing is to make sure you and any other carers have been trained in how to use these. You can buy trainer pens from ALK Abello (sp?) and I think they may also have the expiry reminder service.

Sorry for my ramble but hope it helps a little.

Take care and have a lovely weekend.

actually I think I remember someone linking to a free trainer pen service not too long ago so will see if i can find it later today.

Thank you. School asked for a clear box for some reason but I will get him something more funky for the home set!
We got a free trainer pen with the leaflet from the hospital, ds loves it - now terrified of him getting hold of the real ones and trying it on his baby brother!
School are really being great about this as well (I have rambled further on your other thread about the catering!) and have set up a meeting with their wellbeing coordinator and teachers and tas, and they all had epipen training recently.
The expiry thing has really surprised me - only 11 months on ours - the world must be full of unused epipens (hoping not to use them ever of course!)

Having helped on school trips, that yellow bag would be essential. I've seen the pen in its box with an elastic band round it and the other items. Nightmare.

Much easier for a key stage 2 kid to be in charge of fetching own bag or trips.

schools will consider a child carrying own epi-pen younger than secondary. A 9 yr old at DS's school carrys his own in a bum bag at all times. Not sure what age that started, sorry.

Hi!
I am a teacher who is actually anaphylactic myself. I carry my own epipen at all times but as a teacher of primary school aged children, I know their epipens are kept in the office. We have a sheet Whixh identifies children requiring epipens on the wall in each of our classrooms so we can easily identify these children. In our playground duty bags we also have a red card which says epipen required. A child is able to run this to the office and help is quickly on it's way. All staff are trained in administering the epipen and renew their trainig each year. I am sure this is the same for your child's teacher. They're in good hands! If the policies are as up to date as what I'm sure they are in most schools there should be no issue. I would suggest a clear plastic bag to keep the epipen in in the office too, with your child's name, though ultimately if an epipen is required it won't matter whose is administered unless they require an epipen junior. All the best!

Can I ask how many epipens is considered a sensible number to have? Ds3 (aged 3) starts nursery in September. We currently have four and at the moment I keep two with me (or him if we are apart) and two always in the same spot at home. We were given two in hospital after he went into anaphylactic shock and asked to get two more from our GP, but he was a bit miffed at the time. The consultant said he could need two shots if it happened again.

Oh and they are all due to expire at the end of August .....

We have a lovely Gp two that are kept at home one down stairs the other upstairs. Two in a bag along with all the other stuff she needs this is carried by who is with her. Two in the office at school plus two in the class room. I record when each set expires and order the replacements. Starting a new school next September they only want two but they will go with her each time she leaves the ks1 bluiding.