CE Safety UK, who provide Health & Safety courses throughout the UK, are preparing themselves for a surge in enquiries regarding adrenaline auto-injectors, also known as AAIs and EpiPens, as new legislation comes into play in October this year.
Gary Ellis, Senior Consultant at CE Safety, said “We provide emergency first aid training to businesses and schools across the UK as well as professional consultations to ensure that they are fully compliant with new UK laws and legislation. We expect to be approached by a number of schools in October, in regards to AAI administration, as staff will need to be fully educated and confident in administrating adrenalin if required in an emergency situation.”
On the 1st of October 2017, all UK schools, pre-schools and nurseries will be legally allowed to purchase, without a prescription, adrenaline auto-injectors or Epinephrine (EpiPens). As part of their first aid kits on-site, schools and other education facilities will be able to stock AAIs for emergency use on children who have been identified as at risk of anaphylaxis and have been prescribed Epi Pens to treat such a life threatening reaction. Schools and other facilities who plan to stock Epi-Pens as part of their first aid kit, when the new legislation comes into play in October, should make sure that they have an up to date list of those eligible to receive the treatment along with permission from the parents or caregivers to be able to treat the child in an emergency situation.
According to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, allergies are the most chronic disease in Europe, with up to 20% of patients with allergies struggling daily with the fear of the possibility of an asthma attack, anaphylactic shock, or even death from an allergic reaction. In a recent tragedy, reported by The Guardian, the family of an East London school boy, Nasar Ahemd, were left heartbroken after school staff failed to give him a potentially life-saving shot of adrenaline, which was kept at the school, and instead called an ambulance. Sadly the 14-year-old boy passed away four days later, due to his fatal allergic reaction to milk in his school dinner.
Gary Ellis said “If schools decide to stock additional EpiPens on site, their staff should receive training and feel confident to administer the potentially life-saving drug and that’s where CE Safety comes in.”
Up to 6% of children in the UK have been diagnosed with a food allergy and are required to carry AAIs with them at all times. Prior to the new legislation coming into play, if a child or young person forgets to bring an AAI to school, or they require a second dose of adrenalin if the first was incorrectly administered, their condition could be life threatening and result in fatality. The new legislation will help to prevent further fatalities at school due to lack of AAIs as long as schools take it upon themselves to invest in the new emergency treatment with sufficient training for staff. For a parent of a child at risk from anaphylaxis, the new legislation will provide valuable reassurance that their child, if required, will be able to receive immediate emergency treatment while at school.
Schools looking to invest in AAIs will need to train their staff on how to correctly treat a child or young person in the event of an emergency. First Aid training along with general Health & Safety training can be provided by CE Safety throughout the UK. For more information please contact Gary Ellis, Senior Consultant by calling 0808 164 9690.