Parents with children who suffer from severe allergic reactions worry constantly about their child’s well-being. At home, they can effectively eliminate all triggers that would cause an allergic reaction. However, at school, parents are unable to provide their children with a safe environment, free of allergy-causing triggers.
If you have a child with a severe case of allergies that could prove deadly if not treated fast, you will worry constantly when they are in school. To appease your concerns, you can take certain preventative health care measures to reduce the risk.
You can work alongside the schools and teachers to educate them about your child’s allergy and what measures to take in the event of an allergic reaction. Here is how you can make a preventative health care plan to use at schools:
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Provide the School with an Allergy Management Plan
The allergy management plan should include the following things:
- List of allergy symptoms
- Contact information
- Medicine your child takes
- Things that trigger your child’s allergies
- Other information you think can help the school asses your child’s condition better
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Provide an Emergency Plan If Your Child Suffers from Severe Allergies
If your child’s allergy is severe, you need to provide the school with another plan, give details on what they exactly need to do in the event an allergic reaction of a severe nature occurs. Here is what the emergency plan should entail:
- Contact information of your child’s pediatrician
- Give clear direction to call 911 first, and then the emergency contacts
- Tell them the name of the allergy medicine your child needs and teach them how to give it
- Inform them about the symptoms of anaphylaxis, which, if not treated instantly, can lead to death
- Tell them where their child keeps the emergency medicine
You need to provide these plans to your child’s teachers, bus drivers, school nurses, coaches, and anyone who supervises your child when they are at school.
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Meet with Your Child’s Teachers
You should meet with your child’s teachers and school nurses to let them know in person how they can manage your child’s allergies. Teach them how they can provide your child with a dose of epinephrine to open their airways. Lastly, ensure you tell them that they need to dial 911 immediately.
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Make Sure You Provide the School with Your Child’s Allergy Medications
Some states allow children to have an inhaler or epinephrine on them and some do not. If the state you live in does not allow your child to keep their medicine with them, be sure to take the medicine available to the school’s nurse. You will have to fill out a form, giving the school consent to keep it and administer it to your child.
Since you will also need to show the school a doctor’s note prescribing your child the allergy medication, visit Pediatric Healthcare of Northwest Houston to provide you with one. Our doctors will examine your child and provide you with tips on how to develop an effective preventative health care plan.
